Chocolate and Berries
by Wind Crystal
Summary: Konichiwa! My name's Kinomi, and up till now my life's been pretty normal. But now all of a sudden I've become a member of Tokyo Mew Mew! With some wacky new friends,aliens out to kill us,and a secret love I can't tell anyone, life has never been stranger
1. The Day My Life Went Haywire

**My first Tokyo Mew Mew fanfiction. It may not be good, but gotta write it or else I'll explode from not writing TMM. LOL so yah this is the MANGA not the ANIME. Enjoy it! **

I had heard of this place before. Café Mew Mew. People claimed it was named after Tokyo Mew Mew, but I donno…

I stepped inside the door and instantly had to duck out of the way of a plate that came flying at my face.

"Omigosh I am so sorry!" A girl with short red hair was already sweeping up the fragments of plate. I vaguely recognized her from school. "Take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment"

I shrugged and sat down. Already my visit to Café Mew Mew was turning out to be a bad idea. Flying plates aimed at your head were not a good way to begin lunch.

But I had heard that this place had great chocolate milk shakes, so I was determined to try them. I had just a very slight obsession with chocolate milk shakes…

"Good afternoon!" said that girl with the red hair. She had snuck up to the table with a pen and pad of paper. "I'm Ichigo, and I'll be your waitress today. May I take your order?"

"Chocolate milk shake, please!" I said with a smile. The girl, Ichigo, left, and I took a look around. It was kind of pink and frilly all over, with only five employees. I could tell they worked here because they each wore an amazingly puffy dress, a different color for each girl. Ichigo, who wore dark pink that actually looked good with her hair, had disappeared somewhere. A younger girl in gold was juggling plates nearby- now I knew where the killer plate had come from. An older-looking girl in purple was serving a table a little ways off. A girl with glasses in green was trying- and failing- to pour a glass of water, and at the end of the café sat a girl all in blue, sipping tea like none of this bothered her at all. Crazyness, in other words.

Honestly, it was amazing what I would do for a chocolate milk shake…

"Here's your order!" Ichigo's sudden appearance made me jump. Really, why all the sneaking up on me? What was she, a cat?

"Thanks" I took the milk shake and took a good look at it. It was tall and wide, the coloring dark and smooth, a strawberry pushed into edge of the glass.

I have been all over Japan tasting chocolate milk shakes (OK, actually, my dad just traveled a lot and took me with him, but still…) and I was pretty much an expert on them, evaluating them like a professional chef might evaluate something. But I had never had anything like this. Smooth creamy texture, lovely chocolaty smell, and the taste… semi-sweet and dark chocolate blended lusciously together with fat-free skim milk and- barely there, seeming to float inside the chocolate itself- was the faintest but almost tangible hint of strawberry. In other words, delicious!

"Will you be paying now?" I jumped again. Sheesh, Ichigo's sudden appearances were beginning to get on my nerves…

"Oh, here, let me get you a napkin!" Ichigo ran off, and for a second I had no clue why, or what the thing about napkins was all about, but then I felt something cold soak through the knee of my jeans. When I had jumped, I had knocked over my glass, spilling the last bit of my chocolate milk shake all over me. Dang, those were my favorite jeans!

I sighed and stood up This just wasn't my day. I walked over to a door in the corner marked 'Bathrooms'. Maybe I could get that stain out with some soap. I opened the first door and found three more: One labeled 'Guys', one labeled 'Girls', and one that said 'Do not enter, employees only'. I could hear voices from behind that third door. I tried to ignore them, but my curiosity got the better of me. Like it always does. I pressed my ear against the keyhole to listen in.

"You sure it's safe, Ryou?

"Of course, Keiichiro. It's just different DNA"

What? DNA? Whose DNA?

"Well, OK, Keiichiro. Experiment time…"

I had to take a look at this. I tried to open the door, but it was locked.

Ok, plan two.

I reached up and pulled a bobby pin out of my hair, causing the entire bun it was tied into to pretty much fall apart, letting my wavy dark red hair fall halfway down my back. I picked the lock, heard a satisfying click that ment the door was now unlocked, and crept inside.

I was in a laboratory! A huge laboratory with giant computer screens all across one wall. Two guys- one with blonde hair, one with really long brown hair- were sitting in chairs facing one of the screens, observing some kind of thing. I never got to see what that thing was because that blonde guy turned and I had to duck behind a shelf so he wouldn't see me.

"Did you hear something just now, Keiichiro?

"No"

"Nevermind, then… Everything ready?"

"All set, Ryou!"

"Then we launch the experiment in five…"

Could I risk a peak?

"Four…"

Would they see me?

"Three…"

Better not risk it.

"Two…"

Or should I? It was now or never…

"One!"

There was a click, then a series of mechanical beeps. I wanted to see what was happening so badly!!

"This isn't right… Ryou, something's gone wrong!"

"With the DNA?"

More beeps, growing progressively louder and faster

"No, the experiment!"

I couldn't take it. I had to look. I took a deep breath, then crawled out from behind the shelf.

I heard someone scream "Get out of the way!", then the ground was shaking. What was going on?! There was a burst of light, then I was suspended in some dark void. Somehow, it wasn't scary. I felt natural to be here. I was confused as heck, but I knew this wasn't a bad thing, sorta…

Now I was really crazy. I was seeing things. In front of me a glowing creature had appeared. Cat? Dog? Wolf? I had no clue. All I knew was that I was floating towards it, or maybe it was floating to me, or maybe… Whatever the way, I was now close enough to see what it really was.

It was a fox.

I reached out for it. The moment it made contact with me, I felt a searing flash of agony, like an electric shock. It only lasted for a second, and I was getting closer still, my arms folding around the little animal.

I was _merging with the fox_!!

Everything was blackness now, but I felt great. For a moment, it felt like I _was_ a fox, curious and eager and mischievous and swift.

But all too soon that feeling was interrupted.

"Hello?" A boy's voice intruded on my thoughts or vision or whatever it was, someone was shaking me. "You OK?"

"Well, duh, I'm OK" I said, managing to open my eyes. "I'm breathing, aren't I?"

I was lying sprawled on the floor of the lab, people gathered all around me. I recognized Ichigo, the four other workers, the brown hair guy, and the blonde hair guy. There was also a pink, furry, I'm-not-sure-what-but-it-was-cute hovering left of Ichigo's head. I pulled myself into a sitting position, asking as I did so "What the heck just happened?"

"We'll tell you later" said the blonde guy. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "Your name?"

"I'm Kinomi." I said, rubbing my right shoulder. It was really sore. Must've bruised it when I fell…

I heard the girl in blue whisper something to the girl in purple. "Mew Kinomi… Interesting" she was saying, so quiet I could just barely hear her.

"What do you mean 'Mew Kinomi'?" I turned to face her, hands on my hips. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"My name's Ryou, for starters" the blonde guy said.

"I'm Keiichiro" said the guy with the super-long brown hair.

"I'm Ichigo but you know that." Said Ichigo, then she gestured to the little furry thing "And this is my robot, Masha"

"I'm Pudding!" Said the little girl in gold in a loud, cheerful voice.

"I-I'm Lettuce. Nice to meet you…" whispered the girl in green, her face turning a tad pink.

"My name's Mint" greeted the girl in blue.

"Zakuro" Said the girl in purple simply in a kind of mellow voice.

"The was a moment of silence after the introduction had finished, then Ryou turned back to the screens.

"We should show you something" He said as he typed something in on the keyboard. A bunch of complicated diagrams and charts appeared on one screen, while another lit up with a news clip of Tokyo Mew Mew' s latest victory.

"Beginning to understand?" He said, turning his head to look at the rest of us.

"Uhh……. Your really smart and a Mew Mew fan?" I guessed. Those charts and junk just looked like a bunch of blah blah blah to me…

"Sheesh, no!" Ryuo looked pretty ticked that I couldn't understand. "You're a Mew Mew now!"

I stared at him for a full minute, then burst out laughing. "You honestly expect me to fall for THAT?" I said between laughs. "Ya right!"

"I'm not joking…" Ryou said seriously.

That shut me up. "You gotta be. This is insane, this whole setup!"

"Still need more proof?" Ryou said. He thought for a grand total of half a second, then grabbed the part of the collar of my shirt that was beside the sleeve of my sore right shoulder, and began to pull down.

"Huh?! Leggo of me, you jerk!!" I tried to pull away, but he just pulled harder, and this just led to a wrestling match on the floor that only ended when the combined efforts of Mint, Pudding, Lettuce, Ichigo, Zakuro, and Keiichiro pulling us to opposite sides of the lab finally succeeded, Zakuro saying as she dragged Ryou to the left side of the lab "OK, time out, you two"

I sat staring at Ryou. I have never been so angry, that jerk. He was trying to pull down my shirt! Granted, it was only my sleeve he was pulling, but still…!

"Yes, wonderful idea, Ryou." Said Mint sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "First freak her out, then make all of us think you're a pervert. Very nice plan"

"Shut up" Ryou grumbled.

Keiichiro sighed and shook his head. "Ryou…Just ask her to show you. It's much easier."

Show him what?

"Alright, alright, fine" Ryou grumbled again "Kinomi, I need to see your right shoulder"

"Fine." Weird question, but way better than what I was expecting him to ask. I

rolled up the sleeve of my blue shirt- not quite a T-shirt but not quite a long sleeve- up so the sleeve was bunched up tight near my neck. "Now what?"

While I was rolling up my sleeve, everyone had crowded around me again. Pudding had her mouth hanging open in shock. What was the big deal? I just bruised it.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Just _look_ at it, for Pete's sake…"

I scowled at him, looked down at my shoulder, and gasped.

What. The. Heck.

There was a symbol of some kind on my shoulder. I was looking at it upside-down, of course, but I could see it was an inverted triangle, with two smaller triangles above it. It looked sorta like a cat's face. Or a fox's…

It was beginning to make a bit of sense. The symbol, the dream that I got fused with a fox.

Was Ryou telling the truth?

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Thanks for the snack" I murmured. I had desperately needed some fresh air after that crazyness, and had suggested we continue this conversation at the park. We had passed a fruit stand on the way, so Ichigo had treated everyone to- what else? - fresh strawberries. Now the eight of us had formed a sort of lopsided circle in the grass. No one was talking. I hoped someone would explain all this to me soon.

Pudding was the first to finish her treat. She stood up and stretched. "I'm bored. Anyone up for a race?"

"Me!" I answered, my hand shooting into the air. I loved to run. Ichigo nodded and said "OK, where to?"

Pudding looked around "Uh, how about, um, to that tree and back?" She was pointing to a big cherry tree about halfway down the park. An easy run.

"OK." Ichigo began the countdown. "On your mark.."

"Get set…"

I turned to the tree, getting ready for my full run. My legs felt strangely tense, like they wanted to run for all I was worth, right now.

"Go!"

I was off soon as the word left Ichigo's mouth, flying down that path, ground flashing by under my feet. It was an incredible feeling, the wind slapping my face, the tree zipping by as I turned smoothly around it. I passed Ichigo, passed Pudding- they both still weren't at that huge cherry tree- and then it was over. I was back with the others.I dropped to my knees, panting. My legs were shaking. Amazingly, I wasn't tired at all. It felt like I had simply walked that distance.

No, I was in shock. The others were staring at me. Pudding and Ichigo were halfway back to us.

"How did you learn to run that fast?" Mint finally asked.

"I-I have no idea…" I said breathlessly as Ichigo and Pudding plopped down on the grass beside me.

"Just more proof you're a Mew Mew" Ryou said. I gave a look that said 'You still on that?'. Ryou rolled his eyes and said "Do you know how the Mew Mews were created, Kinomi?"

"Duh" Of course I knew. Everyone knew, after that last news report. "Their DNA got merged with DNA from endangered animals, so they gained the animals' abilities and superpowers, and weird symbols mark out…" My voice trailed off, realizing what I was saying.

I had that crazy dream-vision thing with the fox. The symbol, or mark, or whatever it was. The sudden ability to run that fast.

Was I really a Mew Mew?

"Just explain everything, please. From start to finish." I said after a long pause.

"Well.." Ryou began, and all attention snapped to him at once. I had the feeling that, apart from Keiichiro, no one else had been completely filled in on what happened. "Keiichiro and I were doing a few more experiments for Project Mew Mew, when something went haywire with the experiment. But now that I think about it, the DNA we were experimenting with was probably just reacting to your compatible DNA…"

Project Mew Mew? I looked around at the girls – Pudding, Zakura, Mint, Lettuce, Ichigo – with new eyes. Did that mean these girls were…?

"And so," Continued Keiichiro. "Your DNA was merged with the DNA of a Red Data Animal."

"You pretty much _have_ to join the Mew Mews now!" Ryou commented.

"But do we really need another Mew Mew?" Mint inquired, her tone slightly sharp.

Ryou shrugged "Not really any choice. What else is she gonna do with superpowers?"

This guy was really getting on my nerves!

Calm, Kinomi. Don't blow up again…

Pudding was cheering something about getting a new member of the group, Ichigo was trying to get her to 'calm down and don't scream out the secret again', and I was wondering how I ever got sucked into this mess.

Once Pudding had stopped cheering, there was yet another silence, broken at last by Lettuce asking "So, um…uh what was Kinomi fused with?"

_**"**__**Vulpes Velox" **_Keiichiro answered. "Also called a swift fox."

"Well, that explains why you're so fast…" Zakuro commented.

I could think was _Why me?_

Then, the real shock.

"Hi, Kitty! Long time no see!"

Everyone turned around. There were three guys behind us, floating in midair. You heard me, _floating!_ A tall guy with dark blue hair and eyes, a short guy with red-brown hair and eyes, and one other guy with very dark green hair and kind of amber-colored eyes who had flown over to Ichigo, wrapped his arms around her, and was right now giving her a kiss right on the lips. They all had kinda big pointy ears.

Great. Just to further complicate my life, three new people have to show up and maybe even a love triangle to figure out…

"Tar-Tar!" Pudding squealed.

"For the last time, shut up and don't call me Tar-Tar!!" The short guy yelled, his cheeks turning slightly red.

"Whatever you say, Tar-Tar!" Pudding said with a wink.

Ichigo had finally wrestled herself away form the guy that was kissing her. "What do you want, Kish?"

"Oh, nothing" Kish backed up a little. "Just brought over a few friends"

And then I saw them. Thousands upon thousand of black crows, all grown to the size of a full-grown bloodhound, their eyes glinting red. Surrounding us…

"Chimera Animas" Mint whispered her eyes wide. Then they narrowed and she glanced at the others. Each one nodded, their eyes speaking of a battle soon to be fought.

Words were coming to my head, seeming to come right out of my heart, on the verge of being said. I glanced at Ichigo, my eyes full of panic and confusion. What was going on?

Ichigo simply winked at me and said quietly "Welcome to Tokyo Mew Mew"

Six shouts rang out into the still air, but I was only aware of my own cry of "Mew Kinomi Metamorphosis!!"

I couldn't see, but I could feel myself changing. It was like something inside my heart had shifted, opening up a new me. The feeling of being a fox was back, and stronger than ever as the light played all around my, seeming to form a new existence, a new version of myself.

I opened my eyes. And the first thing I saw were the Mew Mews. Ichigo's hair and eyes were now pink, Lettuce was missing her glasses, and they had all grown animal ears or a tail or both. But there was no mistaking the girls that, just a few minutes ago, I had sat in the grass eating strawberries with.

Something furry ticked my leg. I glanced behind me to see what it was and-

Oh. My. Gosh.

I. Had. A. _TAIL!!_

I spin around, twisting my head in all directions. My tail was dark red, the same shade as my hair, and bushy like a fox's. I was wearing a a short crimson dress, held up by two thin straps that ran front to back, crossing in the front below my chin. The skirt portion was poofed out slightly, but not much, reminding me skirts I saw on the magic-girls in the anime I watched when I was young. The little symbol on my shoulder seemed to glow with a slight crimson light. I reached up to feel my face, and found that my glasses were still on, little oval shaped things in dark bronze frames. I had lazer-pointer red fingerless gloves that went up to my elbows, and bloodred sandles with straps that crisscrossed almost up to my knees. My long hair was loose and blowing around my face, and –what was that? I reached up to find-_ fox_ ears, growing right out of my head, poking throgh my hair.

Wow.

"Fiesty as always, Ichigo." The alien that kissed Ichigo moments before said,

arms folded. "But thet's one of the resons I love you so much!" He glacnced around at the other Mew Mews, then did a double take. "Well, I see we have a new Mew! Who's you're foxy little friend, Kitty?"

"My name is Kinomi" There was a seathing anger in my voice. I had never taken well to being called a 'doll' or 'foxy' or 'dame' or whatever other discriminating name you could think of. Which is what all guys at my old school did to all girls. I don't know why, but its one of the main things that ticks me off…

"This is Pie" He said without acknologing that he had heard me, gesturing to the tall guy. "And Tart" He gestured to the guy Pudding had called Tar-Tar. "And My name's Kishu, but you can call me Kish" If this was a manga, there would probably been a little heart at the end of that statement, if that gives you any clue into how he said it.

"C'mon, cut the introduction, Kish!" Called Tart. Then he turned to the army of evil crows. "Chimera Animas! ATTACK!!"

"Strawberry Bell Bell!" "Mintoon Alo!" "Pudding ring!" More shouts rang out through the air, weapons appeared in the Mew Mew's hands. They had barely any time to receive them before they had to leap out of the way of the attackers (Death by crows…odd thought.)

Ichigo called "When I give the signal, everyone attack at once!"

More words formed at my lips, as the I doged fierce attacks from the crows, words that came right out of my heart. I shouted tham out into the sky, unable to retain them any longer "Kinomi Prism!"

A gemstone seemed to fall out of nowhere into my right hand, a pyramid-shaped thing with smooth sides that fit into my hand perfectly, reflecting the light from the sun in a dazzeling array of color. I only had time to look at for a second before I had to duck out of the way of an incoming crow, its beak pointed, ready to shish-ka-bob me. More words bubbled up from my soul to my lips, but I dared not say them until Ichigo gave the signal. She must have I plan. I think…

By now the crows had formed a ring around the six of us. Keiichiro and Ryou were nowhere to be seen. I backed up even further, but never got anywhere really because the crows had bunched the five Mews and me into a tight cluster, our backs to each other.

"Ichigo…" Zakuro prompted.

"Hang on…" Ichigo stalled. The crows were pushing in closer I could see the three big-ear guys a little ways off, Kish looking a bit concerned about Ichigo, Tart looking mostly pleased with himself, and Pie just cold and calculating.

"Ichigo…" I pleaded. I was getting really scared.

"Just a little longer…" Ichigo whispered. Every muscled tensed in anticipation, all weapons held at the ready. It was taking all my willpower to keep that battle cry from my heart and soul from spilling out of my mouth. The crows were a solid wall of black feathers, sharp beaks, and red eyes. I think they were confused that we weren't attacking, but getting over it fast.

It was going to be a bloodbath, and we were gonna die.

"OK, now!" Ichigo and the crows acted at the same time. The moment she gave that order, the crows lept at us, but we were ready. Six war cries sounded.

"Pudding Ring Inferno!"

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

"Ribbon Mint Echo!"

"Ribbon Zarkuro Pure!"

"Ribbon Kinomi Blaze!"

The moment I said those words, a beam of multicolored light burst from the end of the prism, glowing like an aurura. It slamed right into a crow, reducing it to normal size and leaving behind a geletenlike blob, which I assumed to be the thing that mutated the crow. The blob was quickly snached up by Masha, and the crow, now utterly normal, flew away.

I now saw Ichigo's plan. She had lured them into a wall of bird, and now wherever we attacked, we took out at least a dozen. And since we were in our own little circle, we had the full space covered. My beam of light swept across my portion, wiping out the crows. I think we tired Masha out with all the blobs that got left over, seeing as it had to go collect them, and there were millians of crows. Only now there were just a few hundred. I glanced over at Ichigo, who was fending off a few crows with a heart shaped bell thing from which a pink beam of light, much like my own iridecent beam, had burst. "Nice plan" I said.

"Thanks, but I never had a plan" Ichigo whispered back.

So she had been winging it all along? I shrugged and turned back to my prey. There were only a few dozen crows left. I had never felt so powerful. It might seem like we were killing those crows, but as soon as they got hit with an attack they just went beck to normal and flew away. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Pie talking to Kish. I turned my head towards them slightly and found that I could hear them! Guess those fox ears were good for some thing after all.

"With Kinomi added to their team, their power is increased by 150 percent. This is not good…" I heard Pie say.

Wait, did that mean the power was now doubled its usual or what? I was never good at math…

I blinked, and Kish, Pie, and Tart were gone. There one second, gone the next. Faded into thin air. Freaky…

The guys may have gone, but they were soon replaced by the Channal 10 News van. All the crows had vanished, too, and I could hear the news lady saying to the camera "I'll try to see if I can get an intervew with them now…"

"Hey guys, we'd better go." I commented. "That news lady over there wants to give us an interveiw."

"Aw, can't we stay?" Pudding pleaded.

"No way." Answered Mint. "We've already been interveiwed twice this week. I'm sick of it!"

So we took off, into a dense grove of trees wherewe were well hidden and unfollowed by the news woman. There was another bright flash of light, and everyone, including me, was back to their old selves. I fell to my knees, my legs unable to support me any longer. I was in shock.

"So I'm a Mew Mew" I finally said in a shaky voce.

"You finally get it…" came a guy's voice. It was Ryou. I glared at him. I was really beginning to hate this guy. I could see Keiichiro a little ways off, discussing something with Zakruro.

"So any thoughts?" Mint said. She had sat down to the left of me, Ichigo to my right.

"Yah." I responded, trying to make light of the situation. "When when Kish called me your 'foxy little friend', Ichigo, was he talking about the DNA merge thing, or did he actually think…"

Ichigo's face held a strange expression of seriousness and amusment as as she answered "Knowing Kish, probably a bit of both"

**Sticks and stones may break my bones but your comments will never hurt me. R&R! Try to be nice but if you must flame go ahead and flame. Sorry if I angered or offened anyone by what I wrote, and I really don't hate Ryou. So, yah, I'll try to update soon bye for now!**

**And BTW, swift fox is a real endangered animal from Canada, and Kinomi means berry in Japanese it was the best food-related name I could find I wanted to keep the name theme going on LOL.**


	2. Worst Outfit EVER

**Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

"C'mon out, Kinomi-chan!" Ichigo shouted, banging on the closed door.

"NO WAY!!" I yelled back. I had locked myself in the employee lounge to change, and didn't plan to come out any time soon.

It was the day after that freaky incident with the transforming and the Mews and the Kish and….. Anyway, after all that, the girls explained everything. This was freaking me out to the highest degree, so after a while I went straight home and tried to figure out my life. So now I was apparently a Mew Mew. I mean, sure, I've thought about how cool it would be if I was one of them in the past- most kids I knew did- but I never expected it to be like this. Funny how you might want something, but then when you get it, you realize you want to go back in time and stop yourself from having it, to forget this ever happened…

I fell asleep crying. I was scared. Really scared. I had nearly died, and there was no telling how soon it would happen again. Would it even happen again at all? Or would I live the rest of my life on the run from killers like those three guys? Who were those dudes anyway? Ichigo had said that they were aliens trying to destroy the human race and gain Earth for themselves, then Zakuro had chimed in by saying that we were the only ones standing in their way. That the Mews were the only ones that could protect the Earth.

Hard to believe that just that morning I was wondering where to go for a milkshake, and if I had passed the algebra test or not. Now I had the whole fate of the world in my hands, and I just might get killed. Not really any mystery why I was in tears.

The next morning at breakfast, my whole family noticed something was up. I can't blame them. My eyes were puffy and red, my nose running, dark circles around my eyes. But as soon as I told them I wasn't hungry, everyone except my brother, Ichirou, was fussing over my, convinced I was deathly ill. I managed to go under the cover of feeling just a bit sick until they left: Ichirou to skateboard with his friends, Mom to her nail salon, and Dad to play golf with his American cousin, Joey.

A few minutes later a familiar face stopped in front of my house and rang the bell. It was Ryou. As soon as he saw me, he dragged me out to this sweet red sports car, pushed me into the backseat, and climbed into the front seat beside Keiichiro, who drove us to Café Mew Mew. No explanation, not even a 'Hello'.

Have I mentioned that I hate this guy?

Well, when we got to the café, everyone was waiting for me. Keiichiro gave me a uniform and led me to the employee lounge so I could change in private. I locked myself in, changed, and now refused to come out.

"Oh, you can't look that bad" Mint called. But I would never come out. Not in this outfit.

"Kinomi" Ryou called. "Either you come out or I'm coming in."

"Ok, Ok, fine." I unlocked to door and stepped out. I could actually feel my face turn red as my hair.

"It looks good!" Cheered Pudding. Lettuce and Ichigo nodded in agreement.

"Yes, almost as good as mine and Zakuro's." Mint commented mildly.

I looked myself up and down in the mirror. I'll admit, the Café Mew Mew work uniform looked pretty good, and it was a nice scarlet color, but I hated ruffles and puffs more than anything. And ruffles and puffs seemed to be what this dress was completely made of. I was not gonna wear it. "Can I please burn this thing? Or put it in the dumpster or something?" I pleaded

"Not if you want that 10 dollar paycheck…" Ryou answered.

"Fine." I muttered. I needed that extra money badly.

And so my first day of work at Café Mew Mew began. Ichigo seemed to be the only real waitress in the entire thing. Pudding was too busy with acrobatics to be concerned with serving food, Zakuro wasn't real good with people, and Lettuce was shy and the biggest klutz I've ever seen. Mint was pretty good until the clock struck noon. Then she just sat drinking tea and not helping.

I tried to help, but I don't think I did much. I cannot resist eavesdropping. I'll be serving a table, then hear a juicy bit of gossip and totally forget about serving. I never started rumors myself, or passed on gossip, but I delighted in knowing things no one else did. If I wanted to, I could hear a bit of gossip, then add it with what I already know to figure out the full story. It was actually pretty fun too, like solving a mystery, and my predictions have a 99.99 percent chance of being correct. So I can't resist listening in on other people. But, as yesterday proves, sometimes that's not such a good idea…

The chocolate milkshakes were hard, too. They seemed to be a popular choice, and more than once a customer had to actually pry my fingers off the glass.

_CRASH!! _Dang, not again. That was the fifth plate dropped today! "Kimoni-chan, could you clean that up?" Ichigo called. She was just walking out of the employee lounge, wearing a t-shirt and a miniskirt.

"What's with the outfit?" I inquired as I got out the broom.

Ighigo blushed slightly "I'm going on a date with my boyfriend, Masaya" She giggled at the look on my face, a mixture of horror at the prospect of being the sole waitress and mild surprise.

"Don't worry! Mint will be off her tea break soon, and no one comes in this time of day" Ichigo hitched up her bag on her shoulder and walked out the doors saying, "Bye Kimoni-chan, Mint-chan, Pudding-chan, Lettuce-chan, Zakura-chan"

"Bye!" "See ya!" "Later" Everyone called there farewells, then went back to their work (if you could call what they were doing 'work'). I walked over to the broken plate, broom in hand, expecting it to be just that: a broken plate.

I was wrong.

Turns out Lettuce was carrying the sampler platter - a gigantic plate of tarts, cakes, and other assorted sweets –, one chocolate milkshake, one vanilla milkshake, one fruit smoothie, and a lemonade, when she had tripped, dumping it all over the floor in a jumbled mess that looked like somebody had thrown up over a candy shop that had just been hit by a hurricane.

_And __**I**__ had to clean it up._

I sighed deeply and walked over to the utility closet, pulling out a mop and a bucket that I filled with soapy water.

"What's the mop for?" Mint asked without looking up from her tea.

"See for yourself…" I grumbled, walking over to the mess. Mint followed me.

"Yuck!" Mint's nose wrinkled with disgust when she saw that terrible green-white-brown-cake frosting-lemonade disaster of a mess.

"Gross!" Pudding was looking over my shoulder at the…..uh….. What the heck was it anyway? More than a mess, more than a disaster. Is there even a word for that?

"I know…" I dipped the mop into the water and started to clean, watching Mint cross to the far side of the room and sit down, looking a little horrified and disgusted. I didn't blame her.

One hour later the task was about halfway done. I sat down in a chair, panting. Please oh please let me never ever clean up an icing- shattered glass- lemonade- jelly- fruit- milkshake combo ever again…

"Tired?" Mint asked. The others had gone on lunch break fifteen minutes ago, Ichigo still wasn't back from her date, and Mint was the only one left. She helped out a bit, wiping down tables and bringing me more soapy water to wash with. There hadn't been any customers at all in the last hour.

"Sorta" I took off my right shoe and shook it. A tiny bronze disk fell out. I picked it up. There was nothing special about it, just a plain little golden-brown circle of metal. But it was one of my most valued possessions.

"What's that?" Mint was standing behind me, peering over my shoulder to see what it was.

"A clean-see coin" I said, using the name my mother had given it. "Mom taught me that if you're cleaning with soapy water, then halfway through the job you toss the coin into the water, and you can see your future in the bubbles." With that I tossed the little disk into my bucket of water and got down on my hands and knees, observing the bubbles.

"What do you see, Kinomi-chan?" Mint said.

"Shhhh…" I held a finger to my lips for quiet and stared at the bubbles some more. There were some spots on the water that were white with foam, yet some spots completely devoid of all bubbles. It was those clear spots that would tell my future.

The longer I stared, the more I saw. Bubbles popped and patterns changed. There was a sun in one corner, but it quickly changed into a teardrop. A candy drop sat right in the middle. And, most importantly, there was a heart. The heart turned into a  
K, which turned into an X.

The sun-to-teardrop was easy. I would have good moment turn bad soon. The candy drop probably ment success, or maybe good luck. Or free candy…

It was the heart-to-K-to-X that was difficult. The heart ment that I would fall in love or someone would fall in love with me. But what did the K mean? His first initial? His last initial? Would we kiss? And the X. Would I not love him back? Would he not love me back? Would we go out, then break up?

………confusing…………

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Ichigo stumbled in, supported by Lettuce, Zakura, and Pudding. She looked to be in shock.

"Whoa, what happened?" I hurried over to Ichigo, Mint following right behind me.

Ichigo collapsed into a chair, eyes glazed over, and mumbled something that sounded like "Myzammookze Twasuziba"

"What?" Lettuce said gently.

Ichigo closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said "Masaya took me to a sushi bar."

"How's that bad?" Pudding inquired.

"It's because she's part cat" I said, realizing what had happened. "Part cat…. And sushi, which is fish…." No wonder Ichigo was so horrified. She must've really pigged out on that sushi, or worse…. And on a date, too.

"And then we went to the pet store because he had to buy bird seed for his aunt……" Ichigo continued. She sounded horrified at herself. I didn't blame her. Fish, birds, small animals, cat food, catnip……

I think everyone understood the terribleness of a part-cat girl in a pet store, for there was now a big pile-up hug around Ichigo, and I didn't hesitate to join in. Hugs make everything better.

"You guys rock" came Ichigo's voice from the pile of people.

"Want me to make some ice cream? Extra special comfort food!" Pudding said cheerfully. Everyone laughed, but the joy was short lived

"Aw, look! A big Mew Mew love fest" Came a familiar voice.

Oh no…. not here, not now.

I looked around see Kish Tart, and Pie. Tart was the one who had spoken, the same smug little smile on his face that I once saw on the reporter for a tabloid magazine

"Afternoon, Kitty, Foxy" Kish was saying, headed right towards us. "You look so cute in your work uniforms!" Little heart at the end again.

Great. Now I had a nickname, too.

The girls and I untangled ourselves. I looked around. This place was too small for the inevitable battle that was coming. I think Ichigo had the same thought, or maybe she just wanted to get away from that pervert. Whatever the case, she turned and fled, us right on her heels. Right out the back entrance. Outside.

"Transform!" I heard Ichigo scream, and the shouts rang clear through the warm air.

"Mew Kinomi Metamorphosis!" I heard myself scream, and the familiar foxlike feelings were back. I stood there in my red outfit, ears pricked and tail fluffed out. It felt almost natural to be in this costume. Almost…

"Ya know running won't work" My heart leapt, I guess with fear, as I heard that voice. Kish. He was behind us. The Mews whirled around to face our attackers, our mortal enemies.

Kish.

Pie.

Tart.

And an army of gigantic spiders that were as tall as a tree. I could tell, one was standing right beside a tree, and it was at least two feet taller.

I hate spiders.

I have arachnophobia.

Very, very, _very_ powerful arachnophobia.

I could feel my stomach tying itself into knots as I stared at the horrible things. Black, hairy horrors, sizzling poison dripping from sharp curved fanged that burned holes in the ground when it landed. I thought I might faint. The ground actually seemed to sway under my feet.

"What's wrong, fox-lady?" Taunted Tart. "Scared of bugs?"

I wasn't scared of bugs. But I was scared of spiders. I was actually hyperventilating. I wasn't even sure if I could remain conscious long enough to beat these monstrosities.

"Mew Kinomi, you ok?" Came Lettuce's voice. I tried to say 'yes' but the words wouldn't come. I glanced to Kish. He looked scared. Actually, they all did. But they weren't looking at us, they were staring at something behind us with a kind of horror I had never seen before.

I turned around, a little relieved that I could look at something other than the spiders. There was a girl standing there, leaning casually against the back wall of Café Mew Mew. She looked a bit like Kish, Pie, and Tart. Long deep purple hair that fell across her face, obscuring her eyes. A simple brown shirt and skirt, a long slit running up the side of the skirt. No shoes. Big pointy ears. An alien hippie? I doubted it.

"What do you want here, Kinu?" Pie said though clenched teeth. "This is our planet."

"Not anymore" Kinu said in a voice like dark silk, smooth and lovely, but cold. She looked up, and I could see her face clearly.

My heart froze in my chest.

Her eyes were red. Not red like she was crying or that pale pink-red you see in albinos. They were bloodred, a color that matched my gloves exactly. Her lips were thin, a dark cranberry color to match her eyes, and she had short fangs. Her skin was smooth and pale, her face symmetrical, her build slight and delicate. She was like some perfect creepy vampire china doll.

No wonder these guys were scared. I knew I was. First spiders, now this…

"Who are you?" Kinu asked in her delicate, cruel voice. She was talking to us…

"We are Tokyo Mew Mew!" Ichigo had struck a pose. "And for your evil actions, we will make you pay!"

What?! What the heck?! Was that our catch phrase or something?! Pretty stupid if you ask me…

Kish, Tart, and Pie had landed on the ground, right beside us. Kish was so close my hand brushed his. "What are you doing here?" Pie shouted.

"Oh, this planet just has so much energy…" Kinu licked her lips. "I couldn't resist."

"Leave. Now." I think Kish was barely able to squeeze the words out. This was not normal. I looked around to see the spiders still there. This was the worst possible situation to be in. And at that very second it got even worse.

"Enough talk" Kinu said, her voice suddenly icy. She snaped her fingers, long white fingers with inch-long bloodred nails, and the spiders' black eyes each turned as red as her lips.

They were under her control now.

And they were going for us.

"Strawberry Bell Bell!"

"Pudding Ring!"

"Mintoon Alo!"

"Lettuce Tannent!"

"Zakura Whip!"

"Kinomi Prism!"

The Mews summoned their weapons, and the fight was on. I was surprised to learn that Kish, Pie, Tart, and Kinu had weapons, too. Katana-style swords for Tart and Pie, tonfas for Kish, and a bow and arrow set for Kinu. Of course, I only had time to look at them for a millisecond before I noticed that a spider was about to kill me.

Flooded with fear, I leapt out of the way of the spider's dripping, snapping fangs, only to be smacked in mid-jump by a long hairy leg. I landed hard on my back and sat up, dazed. There were small cuts on my cheek from where the leg had hit. Sheesh, those hairs were sharp.

"Need a hand?" It was Mint, standing over me, her hand outstretched.

"Gladly." I answered. I took her hand, she pulled me to my feet, and we stood side-by-side, weapons held at the ready…..

"Mint Echo!"

"Kinomi Blaze!"

Our battle cries were barely audible over the commotion already going on in the spider/alien/Mew Mew battle, but they worked. The anticipated light, mine multicolored and Mint's blue, shot out at the monster, but to no effect.

Instead we just made it angry.

Its head swooped down, fangs snapping threateningly, and we dodged out of the way. Our backs hit the back wall of the café. We were trapped. The head swooped down again, and we had nowhere to run.

I closed my eyes.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes, and saw Kish standing in front of us, tonfas shifted so they were more like stick-things that could stab you than shields.

Driven right into the monster's eyes.

The spider stumbled back, grunting in pain. Its victims forgotten, the spider tried to run, but just ran right into a tree. It looked pretty funny, but what was important was that we were safe, sorta.

"Why did you save us?" Mint asked the alien, our enemy, who had just saved our lives.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Kish said without looking at us. "Kinu is the real enemy here."

HUH?

I wanted to ask Kish what that ment, but the next second he was flying off in another direction. Mint had run off as well. I just was kinda frozen there for a while. I had no clue why I was frozen, but I really was.

Frozen, while the battle raged on around me.

"_HELP ME!!"_

Huh? Who said that? I turned to the left and saw a spider some distance away, and-

No!

Lettuce?

I made a mad dash for the spider. It was definitely Lettuce. The spider had grabbed hold of her arm with those terrifying, venomous fangs, and was shaking Lettuce the same way a dog might shake a rag doll.

Indistinctively, without even really noticing what I was doing, I pointed my gemstone at the hairy horror and screamed "Ribbon Kinomi Blaze!!"

The burst of light hit the spider right in the eyes. THAT worked. Mid-swing, the spider reared back in agony and opened its jaws in a piercing shriek that scratched on my eardrums the same way nails scratch on a chalkboard. Lettuce was sent flying through the air, and I was running after her, determined to catch her. If I had run fast in that little race with Ichigo and Pudding, it was nothing compared to what I was doing now. I was practically flying. No wait…..

I _was_ flying.

I was parallel to the ground, steadily gaining altitude. I didn't have time to wonder why, just had time to soar to Lettuce, and suddenly _WHOMP!_

Lettuce had landed safely in my arms.

She didn't seem to be breathing….

"No….." I whispered. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't.

I landed lightly on a tree branch, a little in shock. Don't be dead don't be dead please please oh _please don't be dead!!_

Lettuce opened her grassy green eyes, glazed with pain.

I sighed with relief. "You Ok?"

Lettuce raised her injured arm- it looked like it hurt to move- and looked at it. It was a bloody mess, with long painful-looking burn marks where the venom had dripped down. But she said in a faint voice "I'm alright"

I highly doubted that. I was about to say so when a slight movement caught the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw a great hairy spider on a full out run towards us. An angry-looking slash across its face told me it was the same spider that had been murdering Lettuce.

"Stay here" I said to her, setting her upright on a branch. "I'll take care of it" Leaving Lettuce to cling to the trunk of the tree, I flew off, once again parallel to the ground, right at the spider's face. At the last second I swerved up, avoiding those horrible fangs by centimeters. I had my weapon pointed at the thing. I started to say "Ribbon Kinomi-" but the spider pushed itself up and tried to grab me in its fangs. I dodged them and began again "Ribbon Kino-" but the spider lunged again. I tried to dodge, but this time I wasn't so lucky. I felt a terrible, unbearable pain in my ankle, and looked down to find the fangs buried deep into my skin. Now I really was gonna pass out. The spider was shaking me even harder than when it had Lettuce, revenge for my attack on him. I tried to pull myself away, but already it was taking all my energy just to stay conscious, though the deep blackness of being unconscious would be welcoming after this burning, heated, agony.

The spider's revenge would result in my death.

I knew I couldn't hang on to my consciousness much longer. I know it sounds pathetic, but it was true. I was being shaken so hard I felt like my ankle would rip off at any time. I couldn't attack even if I tried, that's how weak I was. I couldn't even scream. I thought I was gonna die for sure.

Until, that is, I stopped.

Really. One second flying through the air, than stopped.

Well, sorta. I was flying along gently, everything dark because my eyes were closed. Someone was holding me, flying smoothly and taking me with them. Then I got set gently down on something that felt like grass. Every bit of me hurt, especially my right ankle, which more than hurt. More like unbearable, burning, horrible, total agony. No word adequate to describe the pain there. I opened my eyes just a little, and was surprised by what I saw.

Kish was just a few feet away, pretty much beating that spider to a pulp with his tonfas. That spider was putting up a good fight, though. I looked to my injured ankle and winced. It was bloody, my shoe just a few scraps of cloth and string, long shiny burns all up and down my leg. I glanced back to Kish, but it was hard. My entire body was going numb, that's how strong that venom was. As I watched the alien fight the monster, a thought struck me.

Had he been the one who saved me?

Were the arms I felt holding me his?

No, I told myself. Impossible. Must've been Mint, saving me again. Or another Mew. Whatever the case, both Kish and spider were gone, lost in the loud screams and shouts of the fight. Ichigo was signaling for the Mews to come to her. I stood and walked to her, slowly, a bolt of purest agony shooting up my leg with every move I made. Black fog seemed to be seeping into my eyes, obscuring the corners of my sight. I guess I was lucky Kish, Pie, and Tart were there, for they were holding back the spiders, keeping them away. For now …

But, after a fifteen-second lifetime, I had made it. I couldn't feel the pain now. Maybe I was used to it, maybe I was to numb to notice it, but I wasn't feeling it anymore.

"They're too strong" Ichigo said to her teammates. She looked pretty bad, covered with cuts and bruises from the fight. Then again, that's pretty much how everyone looked.

"I'll need everyone's power" She continued.

"Better hurry." Pudding was pointing at the spiders, who were making a full-tilt mad-dash for us, having gotten past the aliens.

Ichigo took a deep breath, then raised her hands into the air. From every other Mew- me, Mint, Lettuce (hey, what was she doing here? Didn't I leave her on that branch?), Pudding, Zakura- came a little bubble of light. I actually felt my power leave me at that instant.

Whatever Ichigo was gonna do, she better do it fast. The spiders were nearly here, fangs snapping and drooling poison.

"Strawberry Bell Bell, Version Up!" Ichigo shrieked, and a weapon I have never even imagined formed around her. It was like her regular weapon, but with rings that wrapped around her and grown to huge size.

Ichigo took aim at the fanged nightmares, paused, then shouted "Ribbon Strawberry Check Surprise!!"

It was like a small pink hurricane sprang up, shooting in a straight line at the spiders. The spiders screamed, actually screamed, as they were engulfed in that destructive pink wind.

Then it was over.

The only things left in that path the attack had hurled down were tiny black spiders, blobs that were quickly scooped up by Masha, and…..

Kinu.

She looked perfect as ever, unscathed, untouched.

Creepy….

"So you destroyed my playthings?" Kinu said, her voice like soft grass that hides a venomous snake. "Pity. I had hoped that these toys would be enough to dispose of you, but I guess I was mistaken. Next time I won't go easy on you"

I shivered. She had been going easy on us?

"Well, good-bye." Kinu continued. "I'll be seeing you soon…" I blinked, and she was gone.

That was it. My legs wouldn't hold me up anymore. The spider's venom had taken its toll. I dropped onto the ground, my eyes closing as I fell. A soft thump behind me told me that Lettuce was out cold, too. Every bit of me was tired, numb, and I just wanted to lie there forever, to tired to move.

I did, however, manage to open my eyes and see through that black fog that was surrounding me. Ichigo stood, eyes blazing, interrogating Kish. "Who was she? You seem to know here." She asked in a harsh voice that carried well over to where I lay.

I saw Kish turn his head, apparently determined not to meet Ichigo's gaze, and I heard him say "She was the reason we left Earth in the first place"

I never heard anything else of that conversation. The black fog swallowed me up, and everything went cold and dark.

**Well, how was it? Godd? Bad? R&R please. **

**BTW, Kish still has his Dragon Swords and Tart and Pie still have their anime weapons, they just didn't use 'em here. They will use them later in the series. Tonfas are those things Kish used in the battle with Deep Blue in book 7, just Google them. Amd if someone could tell me Lettuce's and Zakura's attacks, that would be great.**

**And, actually, sometimes what I make Kish say creeps me out...**

**Well, bye for now. **


	3. What the Heck is Wrong With Me?

**So, here's the next chapter. Took a while to write. Mostly a filler, and shorter than usual, so use your imagination to fill in any extra details. **

**I wrote much of this while listening to Caramell Dansen**

**Disclamer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew**

"Kinomi" A voice boomed suddenly out of no where, shattering the cold blackness I was lost in. I struggled to free myself from what was like a pair of frigid hands, wrapped around me and pulling me deeper into the black mist.

"Kinomi? Kinomi, please wake up…" That voice again. My mind grabbed onto the words like a drowning man to a lifejacket. I mentally pulled myself along the voice, letting it guide me away from the chilly darkness.

"Please wake up. C'mon, Kinomi, don't be dead! _Please_ wake up!" The voice was stronger, more recognizable now, and I could sense the fear and concern, and feel someone shaking my shoulder. I tried to say something but my lips were too numb for anything other than an indistinguishable murmur of "No". But I summoned my last reserve of strength and, like someone pulling himself out of quicksand, I opened my eyes.

My gaze clicked with Ryou's.

Honestly, 'clicked' was the only word to describe it. The second I opened my eyes, they were locked with his. I never realized how blue his eyes were…

"Good, you're awake" Ryou said, his voice sounding relieved that I wasn't dead. His face was upside-down over mine, and kinda closer than I would've liked. _Eeeep!_ I could feel his hand under my head, cushioning it against the hard ground I was lying on.

"What the heck happened?" I asked weakly. But then the memories of the battle came crashing back to my head. "_Lettuce!!_" I yelled, sitting up so fast I nearly collided with Ryou. A better word for how I sat up would have been 'popped'.

Bad move….

Not the yelling, the sitting up. I gasped as the world instantly started to spin like on an amusement park ride and my vision went hazy. I came very close to fainting again.

"Calm down." Ryou grabbed my shoulders and lowered me back onto the ground. "Lettuce is fine. Just keep still"

I closed my eyes until the spinning stopped. "Thank you" I said quietly, opening my eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing…" I didn't really want Ryou to know that it was his voice that brought me back to reality. That would be a bit embarrassing… "Where are the others?"

"Over there" He said, jabbing his thumb back over his shoulder. "Keeping Ichigo's boyfriend and one of his friends busy. Lettuce just woke up, too."

I looked past Ryou to see Mint, Ichigo, and Pudding chatting to a tan, dark-haired guy and my brother, Ichirou. Beside me, Lettuce was sitting up, looking dazed, and Zakuro sat right beside her.

"…..So then they collided, and that's the story." I heard Ichigo explaining. Ichirou looked beyond her to me, and I called "Hi Ichirou!"

"Hey!" Ichirou walked over and sat down between Lettuce and me. I glanced down at myself, and found that I had transformed back into my regular self, thank goodness. And, somehow, all my injuries were gone. No scratches, no bruises, no burning horrible painful mess of an ankle. Magically healed. Strange….

"You Ok?" the tan guy was saying. Ichigo was sitting beside him, Pudding was on the other side of Lettuce, and Mint was next to Ryou.

"Yes, I'm fine" I said, sitting up slowly.

"Still scared of spiders, huh?" Ichirou grinned, an amused glint in his green eyes.

"Duh, yes…." Wait, what did he know about the attack? "It was huge!"

"I'll bet it was…" Ichirou winked, his tone sarcastic.

There was a slightly awkward pause until Ichigo said "So, um, Kinomi-chan, this is Aoyama Masaya. Masaya, this is Konichiwu Kinomi."

"Pleased to meet you, Aoyama-san" I said in the most fakely polite tone I could force, complete with a way overdone bow.

"The same to you, Konichiwu-san" Masaya said with equally fake politeness. I stared at him for a full ten seconds, then burst out laughing. "Honestly, Masaya, how are ya?"

"Pretty good, you?" Masaya answered with a grin.

"I've been better"

Ichigo was looking from Masaya to me and back to Masaya. "You know each other." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement.

"Well, duh" Ichirou rolled his eyes again. "He's our cousin!"

Everyone stared at us. "_Cousin_?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"Sorta. His adoptive mom is our mom's sister." Ichirou explained.

"Masaya is _adopted_?!" Ichigo sounded surprised. Masaya had failed to fill Ichigo in on that detail…

Masaya had his forehead in his hand, like he couldn't believe Ichirou had been so stupid as to blurt out his secret. "Yes I am…"

A few minutes later, Ichirou and Masaya, still arguing furiously, had their backs on the café, taking the long way home. I glanced around the group. Ichigo still looked a little surprised about finding out that her boyfriend was adopted, or maybe she was just surprised that he didn't tell her something that important. Lettuce and Zakuro had looked politely interested throughout the conversation, and Pudding had found some great amusement with a green caterpillar that was now creeping across the bridge of her nose. But Mint was looking….different. I couldn't exactly pinpoint how, but something was up…

"Hey…" Mint had snuck up as I was thinking, and her sudden comment startled me out of my trance. "Is you brother's hair always like that?"

"Yep" Did I mention that Ichirou's hair was a clear shade of grassy green? "It's been like that forever now. I don't even remember what his original hair color was. But at Christmastime, he puts red streaks in."

As Mint lapsed back into silence, I thought I had a pretty good idea why she was acting so weird. It was kinda easy to guess, considering the way she was staring at Ichirou, who was now a minuscule dot at the other end of the street.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Ichigo…" I said quietly, poking my sleeping comrade. It was lunchtime at school, Monday afternoon. The fourth day after becoming a Mew Mew. I was now trying to wake Ichigo, who had fallen asleep for the 5th time today.

"Nyaaaaa……Sure, Masaya, I'd love a snow-cone…." Ichigo mumbled in her sleep, purring like the cat she is.

"Ichigo!" I said, louder. Much louder. "Wake up, will ya?!"

Ichigo just purred louder, murmuring "Yes, let's go for a walk on the beach, Masaya…..nyaaaa………"

I leaned in close and said softly "Ichigo, you mom packed fish in your lunch"

Ichigo sprung up, fully attentive. "Fishy?" She asked, hunger apparent in her voice as she dove for her bento box. I grinned and sat down beside her, leaning on the back wall of the classroom. I opened my own bento box and grinned wider. A hamburger steak, salty tamagoyaki, steamed broccoli, and plain steamed rice made up today's lunch. I glanced over to Ichigo's open box to find it stocked with sushi, a boiled egg, more steamed broccoli, and rice with soy sauce. Ichigo was already attacking that sushi with what looked like ravenous hunger, but I knew to be her cat genes kicking in.

"Like it?" I giggled. Ichigo stopped eating long enough to nod vigorously, her mouth too full of rice, seaweed, and fish to answer.

I licked my lips, reminding myself momentarily of Kish, then picked up my chopsticks and proceeded to attempt to grasp a slippery piece of tamagoyaki. By the time I succeeded, Ichigo had already polished off over half of her sushi. I wasn't sure if that meant I was slow with chopsticks, or Ichigo ate sushi _really_ fast. I was betting on the second…

"Hey…" I asked as I swallowed my third piece of tamagoyaki. "What did you tell my Ichirou and Masaya back on Saturday, you never told me."

Ichigo swallowed her mouthful of sushi and explained "I told them that you saw a huge spider and freaked out. Lettuce tried to calm you down but you ran out the door and Lettuce followed and you turned around suddenly and ended up running into each other and hitting you heads really hard and you both passed out"

I blushed, not because the story was an embarrassing lie, but because I had done the same thing just last month… "And how did mine and Lettuce's injuries heal so fast? I mean they were there when I passed out, gone when I woke up."

Ichigo, now finished with her sushi, started on her egg more slowly. "Ryou had some extra Mew Aqua"

"What's that?" I asked after taking a sip of water from my bottle "I mean, I know what it is, but how does it work?"

"Its properties, you mean?"

"Yah!"

"Well…" Ichigo began after a long drink of milk from her thermos. "It can make plants grow. And it can heal most injuries, but not seriously life-threatening ones. And it can't bring animals or people back to life once they're dead. You guys were really lucky. One more minute and you two were goners for sure!"

I nearly choked on the spoonful rice I had just brought into my mouth. I knew Lettuce and I were close to death at that time, but I didn't know we were _that_ close.

"However" Ichigo continued after swallowed some broccoli. "Ryou's working on something more powerful than a Mew Aqua called a LoveMew"

"A love-who?"

"No, LoveMew. It's a combination of a Mew Aqua and some other thing." Ichigo took another bite of her egg. "Once it's ready, we'll be able to revive the entire planet, I think. Ryou keeps saying that it's just a supercharged Mew Aqua., but I think it'll turn out way more powerful."

"What's the other thing?"

"…that's problem. We're not sure"

Our conversation was interrupted suddenly by a pointy something that soared in and collided with my forehead. I picked it up to find an expertly made paper airplane. I tossed it back to a group of giggling girls, who tossed it to a couple of boys in the corner, who tossed it to the teacher, who tossed it to Masaya and Ichirou who were chatting nearby, who tossed it Ichigo's two other friends (Miwa and Moe) were their names, I think), who flew it back to the boys in the corner.

As intresting as this little game of hot-potato was, I had more important matters to deal with. "No idea whatsoever?"

"None."

"………………"

"What's on your mind"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

But this was, obviously, a lie. A face had randomly just popped into my head. A guy's face. My heartrate quickened. I blinked and put my hands over my cheeks to hide the fact that I was blushing. I blinked again, but the face wouldn't go away. It just got clearer. I could see every detail, every strand of hair, the soft curve of his mouth when he smiled... I felt my face turn reddened beneath my fingers, heard a small giggle escape my lips.

"Kinomi…." Ichigo waved a hand in front of my face. "Hello?"

"Wha…?" I snapped myself back into reality. "Sorry, j-just thinking." I said without taking my hands off my face.

Ichigo looked at me strangely -- a kind of knowing smile and eyes that would not be so out-of-place if I had just told her a big secret. She giggled. "Ok…Just making sure you were still awake"

I nodded, but I barely even heard her. The only thought in my head was:

_What the heck just happened to me!?_

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I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Why should I? I knew the way to Café Mew Mew by heart, since I had passed by it so many times, even before I became a Mew.

I was gliding down the sidewalk on my rollerblades. It was after school, and time for work at Café Mew Mew. But my mind wasn't exactly on the road. Instead I was still zoned out from that incident at lunch.

Again: _What the heck had happened to me?!_

That had never happened before. I mean, all that happened was that I randomly thought of a guy, and then…..

Uh-oh, shouldn't have thought about it. Again, the guy popped back into my head. I smacked myself. _No! Go away!Stay away from my brain! _But once again, I could see his face, so close to mine…..

"Gya!" I suddenly tripped and fell flat on my face.

"Kinomi-san!" I voice called sharply. I looked up to see….

Keiichiro's face close to mine. "Are you hurt?" He asked in his gentle voice.

"Uh, n-no…" I sat up. "I'm fine." For a second I wondered what the heck he was doing here, but then I realized that I was right outside Café Mew Mew. How long had I been zoned out?!

"Are you sure?" Keiichiro was such a gentleman, always so nice and polite. I smiled. "No, really, I'm fine"

"Alright" He helped me up. "Just to let you know, Pudding is bring her family to the Café today."

"Ok, thanks" I smiled in thanks and walked inside. It struck me that Pudding had never mentioned her family. Well, I guess today I would meet them.

"Konichiwa, Kinomi!" Called Ichigo. She was still looking at me strangely. Made me think she had guessed my secret. Uh-oh….

But I just waved in greeting and walked into the employee lounge, changed into my stupid puffy work uniform that I hate so, grabbed a washcloth, and trouped over to where Mint was wiping down a table.

"Hey." She said as I began scrubbing the table beside hers. She seemed just as distracted as me.

"Hi. Who's on your mind?"

"Ich-" She stopped. "Wait, what?"

I chuckled. "Nothing"

Mint was about to say something else when suddenly the doors burst open.

"Hi!" Chorused 6 kids, Pudding among them.

"Wha….?" I stared at them.

"Kinomi-oneechan, meet my sister, Heicha, and my brothers, Hanacha, Chincha, Lucha, and Honcha!" Pudding called over the loud voices of her siblings.

Ichigo had her face in the palm of her hand in an exasperated kind of way, Mint and Lettuce were exchanging uncomfortable looks, and Zakuro looked…the same as usual. I guessed they already met Pudding's siblings.

I had a bad feeling about this…..

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I stood in the shower, hoping the hot water would sooth me and make me forget this feeling. I was still wondering why that boy kept popping into my head, and why I always blushed when I thought of him. I shook my head, shaking away those thoughts like drops of water. I had to get my mind off of him, so I relived the chaos that had come after Puddings siblings came.

Needless to say, it was a family of sugerhigh acrobats. Those kids are, like, seven years old, and they can do things I can't even dream of doing. Their little antics earned us quite a bit of money, but it all went to Pudding. She needed it. I don't know if any of you know this, but her mom is dead and her dad is…somewhere else. She supports herself and five seven-year-olds by herself.

Poor Pudding….it must be so hard for her to pay bill and taxes and the rent and whatnot….

So I snuck an extra ten bucks into the money she earned. It may not help much, but…..

I turned off the water and climbed out of the shower, my heart feeling lighter as I remembered that Café Mew Mew would be closed for a few days, since the Fong family had completely trashed it. No more dumb dress. Good. I pulled on some underwear and a robe, wrapped my hair up in a towel, checked my room for a clean shirt but there was none, so I walked out into the living room, knowing that Mom had a basket of freshly done laundry in there. Every thing in the living room was familiar: photos, sofa, fireplace, television, vase of fake flowers…..

Except for one thing.

Kish.

Lying on the sofa.

_Reading my diary!!_

"Kish!" I screamed. "What the heck are you doing here!?"

"Oh, there you are, Kitsune-chan" Kish said in a relaxed sort of way. "I wondered where you had gone."

"Gimmi that!!" I snatched the diary out of his hands. "Get out of here!"

"Sheesh, what are you getting so mad about?"

"_You are in my house when I'm only wearing a robe and underwear and you are reading my diary!!" _

"I only wanted some more info on Koneko-chan" Kish said before teleporting out, just missing my well-aimed kick at him.

I don't know who I hated more, Ryou or Kish.

I forced myself to calm down, though. The guy's face entered my head again, and this time I didn't stop it. I sat on the sofa, allowing this guy to consume all of my thoughts. His face, his eyes, his hands, every strand of hair, every detail was perfectly recreated in my head. I felt the familiar blush rise in my face, and closed my eyes, feeling strange inside.

"Kinomi, what was with that screaming?!"

"Oh, s-sorry, Joey." I opened my eyes to see my dad's American cousin standing in the doorway. His hair was messy and black, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, but his crystal blue eyes, so much like mine, sparkled with kindness and mischief. Very few people I trusted more than him. I figured I could tell him… "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" He sat beside me on the sofa. "What's the problem?"

"Well, uh, this guy's face keeps popping into my head…"

"And?"

"…And then I start blushing and giggling and acting like a complete spaz."

"And you don't know why?"

"Nope"

"Well…" He chuckled. "Based on your symptoms, I guess the only diagnosis is…"

He paused. I rolled my eyes. He always talks like a doctor, even though he's a painter. But whenever he did that, it was always something jokey or fun, nothing to worry about. So I was reassured.

That is, until he gave that diagnosis.

"You're crushing on someone. Big-time."

That wasn't quite what I wanted to hear.

**Lol Kinomi's in love! But with who? Who?! _WHO?!_**

**That's something the writer doesn't even know.**

**jk I do know. I just love to torture you. **

**R&R, please. Flame if you must. Be sure to tell me who you think Kinomi's in love with!**


	4. Love? I hope not!

**Well, here's my next chapter. Thank you, all you nice reveiwing people. I thrive on your reveiws! lol jk.**

**So, go and read and be happy! **

**Disclaimer : I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. I do, however Own Kinomi. **

**Kinomi: "Hey! You do not!"**

**Windy: "Yes I do. It says so in your contract"**

**Kinomi: --reads over contract-- "DANG IT!!"**

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"Huh?" My voice was numb. "Could you repeat that?"

"I said, you've got a crush on someone. Who is it?"

"N-no one"

"Well, ok" Joey stood up and rumpled my hair in an affectionate sort of way. "Be sure to tell me who 'no one' is when you're ready."

I nodded, but knew I would never tell him. This guy I kept thinking about….

I hated him.

How could I have a crush on him?

I sighed heavily and walked back to my room, pulling a shirt out of the basket of clean laundry as I left. I pulled on the shirt and a pair of shorts, then turned on the radio. It began to play a fast, foreign song I recognized as Caramell Dansen. AKA the most addicting song in the universe. I took a step towards the door, then two steps back. Then a spin to the left. Before I knew it I was dancing. And laughing. Nothing cheers you up like dance can. Except for chocolate milkshakes.

"Hey." I glanced around so see my brother standing in the doorway.

"Hi!" I returned his greeting, pausing long enough to offer my hand. "Wanna dance?"

For answer, Ichirou grabbed my hand and spun me around. Ichirou was very strange…. He liked skateboarding and kendo, but also ballet and ballroom dancing. His favorite animes were both _Naruto_ and _Princess Tutu_. Oh, and he dyed his hair green, too. Did I mention that?

"So, what's wrong?" He asked suddenly as he lifted me high in the air.

"Hm? What makes you think there's something wrong?"

"The yelling…"

"Ah…"

He set me back down and twirled me so we were dancing my back to his front. "So?"

"Well…" I side-stepped, then spun back around to face him. "Joey says I've got a crush on someone, but that can't be true cuz I hate this guy."

"And who is that guy?"

"You actually think I'm gonna tell you?" I countered as Ichirou dipped me into a low bow, one of my legs stuck straight up like I was doing a horizontal split. Another song began, one that was haunting and almost sad.

"_The last that ever she saw him  
C__arried away by a moonlight shadow  
He passed on worried and warning  
Carried away by a moonlight shadow"_

"Could you at least give me a hint?" Ichirou asked as he spun me out, then into his arms again. "Do I know him"

"You might…just a little…." I answered tentively as I twirled around, one leg raised slightly into the air, his hands on my waist.

"_Lost in a riddle that Saturday night_

_Far away on the other side_

_He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight_

_And she couldn't find how to push through"_

"Does he go to our school?" Ichirou grabbed one of my hands and swung me to the left.

"No…" I ended that swing with a graceful spin under his arm.

The rest of the dance went on in silence, and when the song ended, it abruply switched to a man's voice saying "_The elusive Tokyo Mew Mew has been spotted battaling a feirce enemy outside the entrice of Tokyo Zoo. Mew Mint and the mysterious new red fox Mew Mew appear not to be with them._" Wow, they knew about me already?

Ichirou stared at the radio. "You'd better go. Ichigo-chan and the others need you."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you're Mew Kinomi"

I stared at him. "Of course I'm not. What makes you think that?" _How the heck did he find out?!_

"Well, you look like her, you sound like her, that story Ichigo-chan gave us is obviously a lie, you've been acting all jumpy since going to Café mew Mew…" He reasoned. "And you have that weird symbol.on your shoulder"

"No I don't!"

"Yah, you do. I can see it glowing though your shirt."

I glanced to my right sholder to see that he was right. "Do Mom and Dad and Joey know?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good. Keep it that way."

He grinned at me. "No problem, sis…Mew Kinomi"

I grinned back. I trusted Ichirou even more than I trusted Joey."Mew Kinomi Metamorphisis!"

The red light swirled around me like ribbons, and I felt my ears and tail pop out. In seconds I stood there in my Mew Mew costume, looking at my brother. "What do you think?"

"I think I've got the weirdest sister ever."

I stuck my tongue out at him and began to climb out the window.

"And, uh, Kinomi…"

I turned my head to look at him. "Yah?"

"Be careful"

I winked at him. "Will do!" And then I launched myself off into the sky, headed for Tokyo Zoo.

Sheesh, Ichirou is so smart. He figured that out when I haven't even been a Mew Mew for a week. I wondered if Masaya knew. He probably did. When would he tell Ichigo? Did he already tell Ichigo?

I heard the sounds of a fight from below me. I glanced down to see that I was right over the open top of a huge aquarium, and above the water the mews were battling an army of gigantic fish with sharp, pointed teeth.

Oh great. Fish. What's next, grasshoppers?

I descended down beside Ichigo, my feet skimming the surface of the water. "What happened?"

"Good, you're here." Ichigo blasted one of the fish with her Strawberry Bell Bell, then turned to me. "Ryou and Keiichiro had just gotten hold of some more Mew Aqua here, but then Kish, Pie, and Tart attacked again."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard his name. Instantly his face popped into my head again, but I shook it out. I had to concentrate… "Who has it now?"

"Kish." She answered simply, before leaping out of the way of Tart's knife. "Midget!" She yelled at him.

Leaving these two to their little name-calling fest, I levitated up above the fight to look for Kish. After a few seconds of searching (and fending off fish), I spotted him a little ways off, standing on the very edge of the tank, fighting fiercely with…

Ryou?

I shook my head. No time to wonder how he got there.

I landed lightly behind Kish, balancing precariously on that tiny three-inch rim of tank. I couldn't let the fact that Mr. Pop-Into-My-Head-And-Make-Me-Blush/Giggle was right in front of me distract me. "Hey! Creepy alien guy!"

Kish turned to see who the heck had just called him a creep, and got a facefull of my Ribbon Kinomi Blaze.

Which just ended up blasting Ryou as well, and they both ended up falling into the water.

And they didn't swim back up. The blast must have knocked them out or something.

"Sheesh, no…they're gonna drown!" I said to myself, and without giving it much thought I dove into the deep, black water.

Yeowch! Jeez, that water was _**cold**_!! I mean freezing! I might've gotten the heck out of that icemelt and gone for extra help if it weren't for one teeny thing.

I couldn't let him drown.

I might hate him, but….

I swam downwards, mentally fighting not to complete that thought. I blinked. I had to stay focused. Sheesh, it was dark down there. And cold. But I kept swimming down. How far did this thing go? My lungs were beginning to ache from lack of oxygen.

I suddenly spotted a tiny speck of light. It was the Mew Aqua, sitting right at the bottom of the tank, right between motionless Kish and Ryou. I swam harder, desperate to reach them. I finally grabbed the Mew Aqua in my numb fingers. It felt warm under my fingertips, and gave me the same sense of calm happiness I associated with peppermint. Without a pocket to put it in, I just slipped it down the front of my dress, then grabbed each of the boy's wrists, Kish in my right hand and Ryou in my left. I pushed of from the floor and kicked my way back towards the surface. But, dang, these guys were _heavy_! I guess it was almost lucky we were underwater or they would be heavier. But I was already out of air, and I had barely begun pulling them. And these guys were about as helpful to my swimming as giant sacks of potatoes. And as heavy. In fact, it felt like they were getting heavier as I swam. I blinked. Barely any light filtered down from the surface, the sun's outline just a dim, blurry coin-sized circle. I glanced downwards at the guys trailing behind me.

It struck me that I was holding hishand.

I looked at him, watching for a second how the how the slight current of the water rippled his hair as if caught in a hard, but slow-motion wind, then looked back up to the surface, kicking even harder. Just the thought that he was here beside me made me feel stronger. So I pushed myself just a little bit harder, just for him. I wouldn't let him drown.

Suddenly my head broke the surface. I took in a great gulp of air, finding it refreshing and almost sweet-tasting after being unable to breathe for so long.

And then next second I had to duck down again to avoid a blast of fire.

Once I was sure the fire had passed I popped back up again, this time bringing Kish and Ryou with me. I had to keep holding them up, because they were still out cold.

Or dead.

No, no, that's bad. Stay positive, don't think that they might be dead…

But what if they were?

"Kish!" Tart and Pie had flown down beside me. Kish and Ryou had woken up, finally, and were now coughing out water. At least they were alive…

"W-what the heck…?" Kish was saying between coughs. Pie and Tart were pulling him out of the water. "Thank you" Pie said to me, so quiet I couldn't actually hear him, and had to lip-read what he said. But I understood, and I nodded to show it. I just held on to Ryou, keeping both our heads above the water (which, now that I think of it, was kinda pointless, seeing as he was already awake. I pretty much did it so it didn't look like I was holding onto Kish just a moment ago…), and glanced up to where the fire from before had come from.

What I saw surprised the heck out of me.

There were five people suspended in the air above me, staring down.

They all had the big, pointy ears and small fangs that marked them out as aliens.

"Who are you?" Said the guy with the light aqua hair.

"Are they mermaids?!" Chorused two identical little girls, each with closely cropped, messy red hair.

"Of course they aren't! Mermaids don't exist!" Said the other two boys, a short one with white hair and a tall one with brown.

"Um…I'm Mew Kinomi" I said uncertainly. Who were these people?

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" I heard Ryou whisper beside me. I quickly let go of him, blushing.

"Oh, so another Mew Mew, huh?" Said the white-hair guy. "Well, I'm Tei."

"My name's Chi" Said the brown-hair guy.

"I'm Mizu" Said the guy with the blue hair.

"Our names are Fi and Re!" Chirped the twins. "Watch what we can do!"

They simultaneously raised one hand, index finger pointed out. They both winked cutely…

And out shot a bolt of fire.

Ryou and I both ducked back under the water. When we resurfaced the two girls were laughing.

"Uh, sorry I'm late, guys. Wha'd I miss?" Mint was floating down, here at last.

I glanced back to these new enemies, to see that Mizu practically had hearts in his eyes.

Great. Yet another line added to our love octagon.

Tei just sighed and made that same hand gesture that Fi and Re had made. Out shot a blast of air that knocked Mint out of the air and into a wall.

"Ribbon Lettuce Tanette!"

They dodged Lettuce's green attack, and Chi lifted his arms high like he was hoisting up a heavy object. Instantly a gigantic chunk of concrete freed itself from the sidewalk and threw itself at Lettuce. She dodged out of the way just in time. Levitated myself out of the water and blasted my Ribbon Kinomi Blaze at these punks. "Who the heck are you freaks?!"

I hit Tei square in the chest, but Mizu dodged out of the way. "We told you. We're Mizu, Tei, Chi, Fi, and Re."

Mizu suddenly sent a crashing wave in my direction. I flew up to dodge it, then realized that Ryou was still in the water.

About to get crushed by the wave.

I dove back down and pulled him out, up and away from the wave. I set him down on the side of the tank, breathing hard. This day just got better and better…

"Thanks" Ryou said, a slight smile on his face. I smiled back, then turned to Ichigo. She had her hands raised calmly in the air, and I flew over to her, levitating between Zakuro and Pudding. The little bubble of power left everyone, and Ichigo's huge special weapon formed again.

"Wh-what's going on?" I heard Mizu say. Yah, you and everyone else here…

I saw Fi and Re cling onto Tei. "The pink kitty girl is scary!"

"Ribbon Strawberry Check Surprise!" Yelled Ichigo, sending the pink hurricane at them. I closed my eyes, buffeted by the wind, and then…

It stopped. I opened my eyes to see those element aliens floating there, looking battered.

"Kinu will be interested in this" Tei said calmly.

_Now_ it made sense. These guys were Kinu's henchmen.

They made to teleport out but Kish tackled Chi before he could go. Pinning him to the wall, he raised one hand into the air, and a sword dropped down onto his palm, pale blue in color and looking mildly similar to a sai. He pressed the sword against Chi's throat threateningly. "This is our planet."

"Well, now it's ours." Chi shot back. You gotta admit, the guy can keep a calm head in a life-treating situation.

Pie and Tart flew to either side of Kish. Pie said "We fought Kinu before, and we'll fight her again if we have to."

Huh?

"Yes, you did." Chi said coldly. He looked to Tart. "But, if my memory serves correctly, your grandparents died quite easily, didn't they?"

Tart looked frozen.

"Your older sister, well, she was a bit tougher, I must admit." Chi sounded taunting, cruelly teasing Tart. "As were your brothers. Even your uncle and your parents were difficult to kill." He grinned wickedly. "But they were all long gone by the time I moved onto you and your little sister."

"Shut up!" Tart shouted. His eyes were sparkling with tears. He, Kish, and Pie looked frozen as Chi continued his taunting.

"You put up a lot of a fight, protecting that little girl. But, in the end, you both sliced open quite nicely." He chuckled. "You were there longer than I was. Tell me, did it take long for her to die? Was it painful?"

"She was only six years old." Tart's voice sounded choked, filled with an odd mixture of boiling rage and crushing grief. "You'll pay for what you did to my family!!"

With that, Tart slammed his knife right at Chi's face.

It just buried deep into the concrete wall. Chi had teleported out the second Tart had whipped out his knife.

Tart just stood there, shaking, tears falling fast, knife still buried in the wall. I landed on the ground a few yards behind him, as did the other Mews. I felt that something should be said in an effort to comfort him, but…

No. Why was I thinking like this? Kish, Pie, and Tart are our enemies!

Kish put a hand on his younger friend's shoulder. "We should go…" He said quietly to Pie. The three teleported out.

Pudding suddenly grabbed onto my arm. She was crying to.

I picked up the sobbing child. "What's wrong, Mew Pudding?"

"P-Pudding is sad for Tar-Tar na no da! H-he doesn't have any family n-na no da!"

I hugged Pudding closer in hopes of comforting her. Poor kid…she really loves Tart, even though he's our enemy.

Suddenly, just to ruin the moment, there was the bright burst of light of a flashbulb, and that news lady from Channel 10 was saying "Folks, you have just witnessed the battle of the century!"

I carefully set Pudding down and opened my eyes. A few photographers and reporters were clustered around us, along with a cameraman and the Channel 10 lady.

All sorts of questions were being shot at us, and the news lady came towards me, speaking into the microphone. "So you're the mysterious new red Mew! Who are you?"

I nervously glanced to Ichigo, who was taking random questions from three reporters at once. She winked at me. I understood and turned back to the lady. "My name is Mew Kinomi, and I'm doing my best to help Tokyo Mew Mew keep the Earth safe!"

Suddenly I had reporters pressing in on all sides.

"What do you have to say to your fans?"

"Is 'Kinomi' your real name?"

"Is red your favorite color?"

"What's your blood type?"

"Time to go" I whispered to Ichigo, and the two of us took off into the air, followed by a blushing Lettuce, an annoyed Mint, and an unfazed-looking Zakuro.

"Mew Pudding! Come on!" Mint called, for Pudding was performing acrobatics for the entertainment of both the paparazzi and the random passersby.

"Aw, Ok!" Pudding leapt into the air, and the six of us flew off at top speed, Mint fastest because of her wings, and landed on in a narrow, dark ally. In a flash of light, we all turned back into regular form. As soon as we were back to normal, Ichigo's cellphone rang. "Hello? Oh, hi, Ryou!...Um, I'm sot sure….." I caught a sparse thread of angry voice as Ichigo held the phone away from her ear. "Ok, ok, I'll ask! Sheesh, you don't have to yell!" She turned to us, covering the phone's speaker-thing. "Um, wh-who has the Mew Aqua?"

"I do" I reached down the front of my shirt and pulled it out. It was shining brightly as ever, with that faint trace of peppermint clinging to it.

Ichigo nodded and turned back to the phone. "Hai, Kinomi has it………uh-huh….Um, we're just outside Hoshi Salon and the ShoutOut karaoke box…..ok, bye" She turned off the phone. "Ryou says to meet him at the park. Now."

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I was standing a little ways away from the rest of the Mew Mews, sipping my chocolate milkshake. Mint had treated us to ice cream on the way to the park. Now we were there, but nothing much was getting done. Ryou and Keiichiro were a few yards away from us, fiddling with the Mew Aqua. Ichigo and the girls were somewhere behind me, chatting about nothing in particular. I stood under a bare cherry tree, watching the sun's slow decline out of the sky. I looked up to the stark brown branches. I missed having the cherry blossoms, but they had been blown away in a Mew Mew/alien battle a little while before I joined. I hoped they would return next year. It's just not spring without sakura.

I sighed and looked back to the sunset. He had been so close to me today. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation of holding his hand return to my fingers.

_No. Stop. _I told myself, giving my head a little shake. I've already decided that I would not fall for him.

But still….I couldn't suppress my feelings any longer.

I—

"You're in love!!"

I fell back, scrambling away from Pudding, who had randomly jumped in front of me. How the heck could this little girl have found out my secret?!

Wait, no! It's not a secret if I don't love him! And I really did not love him!!

Or did I?

This was so confusing, my head hurt….

Hey, why did everything grow all of a sudden?

It was true. The trees, the girls, everything had turned giant-sized. Mint crouched down so her face was on my level. "Uh-oh…." She breathed.

Great. 'Uh-oh' is never a good sign.

I looked down at my feet, but they had changed into paws. Huh? I looked behind me to see that my tail was out, huge and fluffy.

"Uh…K-Kinomi…" Lettuce pulled a small mirror from her purse. I looked at me reflection and gasped.

_I HAD TURNED INTO A FOX!!_

What was going on?!

"What happened?" Came the polite voice of Keiichiro. He and Ryou had come over to see what the commotion was all about.

"Kinomi turned into a fox" Zakuro explained calmly.

"I think she's got the same problem as me…" Ichigo said.

"Then the way to turn her back should be the same…" Ryou reasoned. He gently picked me up. I froze, completely confused on what he was planning.

Then he kissed me.

It only lasted a second, but….

And then suddenly, I was a human again, and he was practically holding me in his arms, and I was staring into his eyes…

And I turned back into a fox.

"Oh, great. We're right back where we started" Ryou sighed, and Keiichiro scooped me out of his arms. Keiichiro gave me a quick, tiny kiss, and I was back to human form.

I took a step away from the boys. "Wh-what just happened?"

"Well, to put it simply, your fox genes are becoming more dominant" Ryou said. This guy sounded way too calm.

Ichigo said. "Your ears and tail are gonna pop out when your embarrassed. And when your super embarrassed, you'll turn into a fox! It happens to me, too, except I turn into a cat"

"So ya mean I'm gonna be turning fox every time my face turns red?!"

"Yah, pretty much"

I sighed. Life just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Suddenly, my cell phone rang.

I answered it. "Hello?"

"Kinomi!" It was Joey. "Get home now, they're gonna have a news report on Tokyo Mew Mew, with a special on the new red Mew!"

I almost laughed at him. Little did he know _I _was the red Mew. "Ok, I'm coming. See ya in a minute."

I snapped the phone shut and said to my comrades. "Well, my dad's cousin Joey wants me to see the news right now." I winked at them. "It seems pretty exciting! They're gonna have a report on the Mew Mews, and a special on Mew Kinomi!"

Mint chucked. "Well, you don't wanna miss that!"

"Ok, see ya!" I turned and ran for home. I was at the entrance to the park when I head Ryou call my name. I turned and waited for him to catch up.

"Uh, Kinomi, I wanted to give you this."

Eh? A present?

From _Ryou!?_

"Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out something very, very familiar.

I grabbed it out of his hand. "The Mew Aqua from the fight!"

"Yah, how'd you know?"

I shrugged. Maybe at had something to do with the warm, peppermint-tinted feelings I got from holding it. I noticed that it was now attached to a thin chain. "You turned it into a necklace."

"Yah" Ryou took it back, went behind me, pushed my superthick hair out of the way, and fastened it around my neck. "All the others girls have some, too. Use this when you really need it."

"Ok."

"And Kinomi?"

"Yah?"

"Don't worry about the kiss. Since you were a fox it doesn't really count"

"Ok" Was all I said, but on the inside, I was breathing a deep sigh of relief. Now that I thought about it, he was right. That was good. Ryou took a step back. I pulled my shirt away from me slightly so the Mew Aqua dropped out of sight down it. Now it looked like I wasn't even wearing a necklace.

"Well, see ya later, Kinomi" Ryou said.

"Bye!" I rebegan my run for home, and a thought crossed my mind.

Maybe Ryou wasn't so bad after all.

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It was very strange to look at myself on television. It's like someone wrote a story about you, and it's in third-person. You're watching your life unfold from the view of an outsider.

I was sitting on the couch, squashed between the left end of it and Ichirou. Joey sat on the right end, and Mom and Dad were squeezed into the only remaining chair, his fingers tangled in her hair.

I mean, literally. They were both struggling to untie her hair from around his index and ring fingers.

"So… Is it him?" Ichirou whispered, nodding at Ryou.

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"Then is it him?" He gestured to Kish.

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"Then it must be the tall alien guy with the purple hair."

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"Short alien guy?"

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"New white-hair alien guy?"

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"Is he even in this fight?"

"Maybe. Maybe not"

"Are you ever going to give me a real answer?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Maybe. Maybe not"

He elbowed me in the ribs. I elbowed him back. Mom had finally freed Dad's fingers from her long, brown hair. Joey yawned and watched me get blasted by fire on TV with mild curiosity and interest.

Life at the Konichiwu house goes on as normally as ever.

But not for long.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Said, springing up at once. I made a mad dash for the door (slipping and falling flat on my face twice), and pulled the door open.

It was Pudding.

And not just Pudding.

Pudding, Heicha, Hanacha, Chincha, Lucha, and Honcha.

"Uh…..Hello na no da." Pudding greeted. Her siblings all mumbled a quick 'hi'. It struck me that Pudding wasn't her normal bubbly self, and her brothers and sister looked like they were about to cry.

"What happened?" I asked gently.

"Well, uh...Pudding, um, she…" Pudding's awkward attempt at an explanation was suddenly interrupted as Heicha burst into tears.

"The mean man took our house!!"

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**So, R&R, and be sure to tell me who you think Kinomi's in love with.**

**Bye for now!**


	5. Love Test Trouble

**HERE IT IS!! THE CHAPTER EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR!! IN THIS CHAPTER, WE FIND OUT WHO KINOMI LOVES!!**

**Yep, that's right! Here is where it is reveiled! **

**Also, it might intrest you to know that I found a sort of Mew Mew OC form and filled it in about Kinomi. Check it out, then copy da questions to your profile and fill it out for your OC. It's on my profile, BTW. Also, looking to read another story with Kinomi in it? Try 'Kissed By an Angel or Two' by my oneechan MewBleuberri. An amazing story, and new Mew, and it's still got Kinomi in it! Trust me: It's worth reading!**

**Also, on an unrelated note, I got a haircut yesterday **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMM**

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"What?" Was my only response.

Pudding was hugging the child tight, and she looked up at me. "Eviction for nonpayment of rent." She explained.

"Ok…." I still didn't get why they had come here. "Wanna come inside or something?"

The family followed me through the hallway into the TV room, where the me on television was saying 'My name is Mew Kinomi, and I'm doing my best to help Tokyo Mew Mew keep the Earth safe!'

Sheesh, I didn't realize how incredibly _stupid _I had sounded.

"Who was it, Kinomi?" Dad asked.

"Umm….guys, meet my friend Pudding, and her siblings Hanacha, Chincha, Lucha, Heicha, and Honcha."

"Hi"

'Hello"

"Good evening"

"Hey, Pudding-chan!"

"Um….." Pudding's voice sounded pleading. "Pudding lost her house and now her family has no where to go na no da. Can she and her family stay with you na no da?"

And, after a lot of talk and mini-negotiation, it was settled.

Pudding and her family would temporarily live at the Konichiwu house.

And as I climbed into bed, snoring Pudding right beside me, I wondered how much my life would change now.

I would soon know the answer.

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I was floating in calm blackness. Asleep, dreaming, yet still aware of my self. Images began to unfold before me, starting slow but rapidly increasing. And not just images, feelings too. A sense of numb shock. I saw my hands, red with blood, felt something press against my lips momentarily, then that feeling was shattered by a sharp something that rammed into my chest, piercing my heart. Everything was blurred slightly, as if I had tears in my eyes. I was holding someone in my arms, feeling the life drop out of them, and—

Suddenly my dream was shattered like glass as a loud honking noise burst its way in.

"What the heck?!" I yelled as I sat up quickly, safely in my bed. One hand reached over to my bedside table, found my glasses, and jammed them on my face. I could now make out the noise to be a trumpet, playing some sort of song. I ran to the open window and looked out. Nothing. I flipped myself over so I was looking up and—

Hanacha was standing on the roof just above my window, playing a trumpet.

"Hanacha! Get down from there!" I called. He grinned and jumped down into my arms. I pulled him inside and closed the window. "What were you doing up there? It's dangerous! And why were you playing that? Do you know what time it is?!"

Ya, I know. I sound like a scolding parent. But this kid has to learn that he should not wake me up in the middle of a dream about the future. Or, actually, anytime I'm sleeping…

"But Hanacha always plays trumpet on the roof at six AM na no da!" Pudding was sitting up in bed, yawning, her gold hair looking smunched up from sleeping. "It's the best alarm clock ever na no da!"

And so my first day with the Fong family began.

After much longer than usual (due to the fact that there are only 4 showers in the entire house (and 11 people who wanted to take showers)) I was crammed between Heicha and Lucha in the family minivan, bag slung over my shoulder, frantic-looking Mom driving us to school.

As she pulled up to Chincha's, Lucha's, Hanacha's, Heicha's, and Honcha's school, I thought back to the dream this morning. What had it meant? And who was that person in my arms? A Mew? An alien? One of my other friends?

Was it him?

I shook away the thought as Mom smoothly stopped in front of my school. "Bye, Sweetie!" She called as I got out. Her voice sounded tired.

"Bye, Mom!" I called back, and made my way to my classroom. But halfway there I bumped into someone. Literally.

"Hey, watch were you're going" Came a rude-ish, conceited voice from in front of me.

"Sorry" I growled, picking myself off the floor. "I don't really pay attention to complete snobs"

The girl glared at me. I glared back. This girl's name was Donguri Chouko, and I don't know why, but she hates me. And I hate her.

I looked her up and down. Her nose was small and her eyes big and black as her hair, which was smooth and silky, and reached down to her waist. After a second, she gave a small "Hmph!" and continued on her way. I stuck my tongue out at her and proceeded to my classroom, my thoughts back on my dream.

Again, what the smoof did it mean!?

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I was sitting beside Pudding in front of three seven -tiered stands, each covered by a red cloth, each having many dolls resting on top. I loved to stare at these dolls, to look at the Emperor and Empress at the very top, then slowly work my way down past the court ladies and the musicians, the ministers and the furniture, all the way to my favorite: the cherry tree. Pudding, on the other hand, was fidgeting beside me. She was going to perform later at the local shrine, where they were having a sort of street fair to celebrate the holiday, and she was anxious to get there. But I had voted for us to stay a little longer and look at our dolls. I could smell a sweet, familiar scent coming from the kitchen, where Heicha was helping Mom make arare.

It was the third of March, a week after my dream. And it was Hina Matsuri, Girl's Day, the Festival of Dolls. Whatever you want to call it. It, along with New Year's and Christmas, was my favorite holiday.

This past week had, actually, been pretty quiet. No alien attacks, save for that time Pie had attack yesterday with (I kid you not) _grasshoppers._ But other than that, it was almost boring. _Almost_. We can't forget the fact that the Fong family is still living here. To be honest, I kinda like it. As does the rest of my family.

Wacky, I know. I mean, our house was built for four or five people, plus a guest or two. Now we've got two different families living here.

But it's really not that bad.

For one thing, Mom and Dad have always wanted a lot of kids. And you'd think that with so many people, they're be more chores, right? Wrong. The Fongs seem to be used to pulling their own weight, so they always do all their chores with infectious speed and enthusiasm. Sunday evenings are now reserved for switching on some music and having an entire-family cleanup of the house. And it's actually- dare I say it- _fun_. I guess it's the fact that there's music. Or that it's kinda like everyone's on sugar hype, shouting silly things to each other, dancing in-between tasks, the Fongs punctuating every few seconds with some kind of acrobatics. And I'm usually the one stuck mopping, giving me plenty of opportunities to check my fortune. And every time I look, always see that mysterious K-heart-X.

Heck, I've even grown used to the trumpets at six! Although I'm not sure about the neighbors…

"Pudding's boooored" Pudding declared after a few minutes. "Can we go now na no da?"

"Sure!" I stood up and walked to the door, slipping on my shoes. "We're going to the shrine now, Mom!" I called and followed Pudding out the door, locking behind me.

"Want a piggyback ride?" I asked her. Even with my long, sakura-patterned yukata, I could still run pretty fast. At least I wasn't wearing those annoying sandal-things.

"Yup Kinomi-oneechan na do da!!" Pudding chirped. I crouched down and Pudding climbed on my back. That's when it hit me.

Pudding had called me oneechan.

Big sister.

Ok, so she calls all the Mews oneechan. But still, there was something oddly satisfying about hearing her call me her big sister.

After all, she was part of my family now.

I really _was_ her sister.

"Hold on tight!" I shouted to my rider, and Pudding clasped her legs tight around my waist but hands loosely around my neck I started to run, starting out on a slow trot, but soon moving up to a full-tilt dash. I rounded a corner, Pudding tilting to the side slightly like on a motorcycle so we wouldn't fall over. I ran a little bit faster, the skirt of my yukata flapping in my slipstream. The cool early spring air whipped the few loose strands of hair in my face. Behind me, I heard Pudding laugh. I jumped off the ground, doing a little spin in mid-air, before landing several feet away and taking off again the moment my feet hit the ground. This was amazingly fun, but the next second it was over. We had reached the shrine.

"That was fun na no da!" Pudding squealed as she double-flipped off my back. "But Pudding's gotta go make money now na no da"

"Ok, Pudding. Why don't you meet me in front of the shrine's main building at 3:00, ok?"

"Two hours? Ok, Kinomi-oneechan na no da!" Pudding waved over her shoulder at me and dashed off, lost from view in the crowd. I started to work my way through the bunch of people clogging up the entrance, and found myself in front of the main building of the shrine. The path around the grounds was long and twisty, dotted with stalls and packed with people. I made my way around, admiring the fancy yukatas and fun games. After a few seconds I gave into the delicious scents filling the air and bought myself some amazake and a stick of dango. As I sipped the sweet, non-alcoholic sake, I glanced around and nearly choked on my drink in amazement.

There was Mew Ichigo.

And Mew Mint.

And Mew Lettuce.

And Mew Pudding.

And Mew Zakura.

And Mew Kinomi.

And about a dozen other copies of them. Short Zakuras and tall Puddings. Plump Mints and pencil-skinny Lettuces. Ichigos with stiff ears and floppy tails. Kinomis with floppy ears and stiff tails. And even a few exact perfect copies out there.

Cosplayers.

Wait, we had cosplayers?

COOL!!

I smiled and continued my walk down the path, stopping at a goldfish-catching game to win a few fishies for Pudding. I looked to the stall next-door and saw something that made my heart flip from excitement.

This stall sold darumas.

I squealed and ran over. I had always wanted a daruma. No, two darumas!

_Three darumas..._ Said a sly voice inside my head. _One for him_

ACK!! NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOO!! STAY AWAY FROM MY BRAIN!!

Too late. The image of the guy once again intruded on my life, so vivid it felt like he was standing right in front of me. I felt the familiar blush rise in my cheeks. Why did this keep happening to me? But I'll admit…..

I may have hated him to death….

But I think I might really like him, too.

"You gonna buy one, Kinomi-chan?"

"Hm?" I blinked myself out of my trance and tuned around to see that my friends from karate, Hanako and Hoshiko, had snuck up behind me.

"Oh, hi" I said, shaking away the last remnants of the guy. "I'm gonna buy two"

"OK, that'll be 500 yen, please" The clerk said. Sheesh, I didn't even know he was there. But I handed over the money.

"Hmm…." Mused Hanako. "I think I'll have one, too"

"250 yen" Said the clerk. As she handed over the money, muttering "What a bargen…."

"Wanna sit down?" Hoshiko pulled both of us over to a bench, and we all plopped down on it.

"Got a marker?" I asked. Hanako pulled one out and handed it to me. I took off the cap and drew in the right eye of the first one. This goal was simple: Play Honey Punch all the way through on Expert Level on DanceDance Revolution.

I drew in the right eye on the second one. Now this dream was a bit more complicated: to run my own onsen.

_Buy another daruma, you also have the goal to win his heart!_

_No, I don't! _I lied to myself.

_Yes you do!_

_No!_

_Yes!!_

_NO!!_

_Yes!!_

_Yes……_

Wait, what? Did I just argue with myself….

And LOSE?!

Huh…..I lost to myself……

"Kinomi-chan?" Hoshiko waved a hand in front of my face. "You still here?"

"Reletively" I answered, handing the marker back over to Hanako, blinking myself back to the present.

"You've been acting pretty weird lately…." Hanako commented.

"Hai, you keeping zoning out and blushing and giggling"

_Smoof, they noticed!!_

"But, whatever" Hoshiko shrugged. "If you've got a crush on someone, that's your problem."

"Who is it?!" Hanako sounded excited. She was a little boy crazy….

"No one" I lied.

"Aw…" Hanako sighed. "Your love life is so boring…."

This was the trigger for the traditional argument between the two girls. I marveled at whatever freak of nature had caused these two to become best friends, when one was utterly and hopelessly boy-crazy and the other had no interest whatsoever. I glanced at them both, taking in their appearances. Hanako had long curly blonde hair and pale blue eyes, and was wearing a mini skirt and a shirt that was cut high enough that you could see her belly button. Hoshiko, on the other hand, had brown eyes and black hair so short most people mistook her for a boy. She wore a white yukata patterned with chrysanthemums. It took me a second realize what was different about them.

Hanako had a complicated purple symbol on her stomach around her belly button, and Hoshiko had a golden-yellow mark on her forehead. "Hey, where'd you get those?"

"This?" Hoshiko pointed to her mark, which just so happened to look exactly like Mew Pudding's mark. Hanako's looked like Zakuro's Mew Mark. "It's a temporary tattoo"

"They'll give you one over there for only 100 yen" Hanako pointed across to a stall diagonally across from us. The sign on it read 'Mew Mew Marks! Only 100 Yen!!' There was a loooooong line of girls, many of them cosplayers of the Mews. Even as I watched, a Mew Kinomi with green eyes sat down at a small stool and the lady there started applying a temporary tattoo to her right shoulder.

Wow.

"Oh gost, I nearly forgot!" Hanako slapped herself on the forehead. "I was gonna invite you to my blind date party"

"That sounds cool. What time?"

"Five to eight. My house. Tomorrow night."

"Ok, can I bring my friends?"

"Who are they?"

"Their names are Ichigo, Mint, Pudding, Lettuce, and Zakuro"

"What are they like?"

"Ask 'em yourself" I had spotted the five approaching. I waved them over. "Guys, these are my friends Hanako and Hoshiko."

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Ichigo!" Ichigo said cheerfully. She was dressed in jean shorts and a pink shirt.

"My name's Mint" Mint grinned. She was wearing a magnificent, dark blue yukata that looked like it was made of silk instead of cotton.

"M-My name's Lettuce. Nice to meet you" Lettuce said quietly. Her yukata was robin's egg blue, and patterned with dark green leaves.

"Zakuro" Zakuro said simply. She was wearing a white pants and a deep purple top to match her hair, which was up in chopsticks like mine.

"Hi, I'm Hanako and I was wondering if you would all like to come to my blind date party."

Lettuce looked she was about to say 'no' when Ichigo said "Sure! Those are fun! What time?"

"Five to eight at my house on Saturday"

"Tomorrow? Ok that works for me" Ichigo said. The other girls nodded in agreement. "And I'm sure Pudding would love to come, too. I'll tell her about it. But hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Um, ok" Hanako followed Ichigo until they were sever yards away from us, then Ichigo started talking to her in a low whisper. I saw Hanako nod and put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"What are they talking about na no da?" Said Pudding, popping up unexpectedly in front of me. "Is it about your boyfriend, Kinomi-oneechan na no da?"

Caught off-guard by her sudden appearance and the face the she thought I had a boyfriend (as if), I fell back and felt my ears and tail pop out

"Why are you holding your head like that, Kinomi-chan?" Hoshiko asked, referring to the way I had my hands on my head to cover my fox ears. Pudding was standing close behind me to cover my tail. "Oh, um, I-I just got a headache, that's all"

"Ok…" She said slowly. "Need some medicine?"

"Nah, I'm fine now." I said, and almost sighed with relief as I forced my ears and tail to go down.

"I'm Pudding na no da!!" Pudding cheered, jumping out from behind me. "Kinomi-oneechan, look how much money I made!!" She brought out a large plastic back stacked full with yen.

"Awesome! You must've done pretty well, then!" I said. I wondered why she had come to find me…

"Kinomi-oneechan wasn't at the shrine, so Pudding went and found her na no da!!"

Sheesh, could this kid read my mind or something?!

"There's something Pudding wants to show to her fiends na no da!!"

"What's that?" Ichigo had come back, Hanako at her heels.

"Pudding will show you! Follow her na no da!!" Pudding took off the direction of the shrine.

"Bye!" Hanako and Hoshiko chorused as the girls and I followed her. "Bye!" We called back, and in minutes we had reached the main building of the shrine.

"You took a long time na no da" Said Pudding. "Pudding was getting worried."

"Well, we're here. What is it that you wanted to show us?" Mint said.

"This na no da!" The little monkey girl pulled us over to the window of the shrine. "Fortunes na no da!"

"Would you like your fortunes?" Said the girl behind the counter politely.

"Yah" "Hai" "I guess" were our scattered answers. The girl ducked down out of sight, then returned a second later, handing a slip of paper to each of us.

"How much?" Zakuro asked.

"Oh, no charge" The girl said, smiling brightly like a saleswoman. "Fortunes are free."

I glanced down to read mine. "Huh…starts out with 'good fortune'"

"Hey!" Mint exclaimed excitedly. "I got 'great good fortune'!"

"Lucky…" Ichigo groaned. "I got 'bad fortune'"

I read though my fortune. Everything seemed to check out ok. Health, good. Money, good. School, very good. But that last sentence…

"'You love luck is unforeseeable'? Impossible!" Said a voice from over my shoulder. I glanced around and almost squealed with delight. "Aiko-sama!!"

The woman standing behind me was young, with short light brown hair, a faintly blue yukata with hearts across it, and caramel-colored eyes that had a sort of fun-loving sparkle in them. "-sama? I've never heard anyone call me that!"

"Well, um, sorry, it's just that you, uh, I mean I-I'm a big fan of you!!" Jeez, I was stuttering as much as Lettuce.

"I have fans?"

"What do you mean, 'I have fans?'? You're famous in my family!!"

"Kinomi, who is this?" Mint asked. The girls were all satring at me. Probably because I was acting the way Mint always acted towards Zakuro.

"Uh, guys this is Renokashi Aiko. She's a famous love fortune teller"

"Well, I wouldn't say famous…" Aiko suddenly noticed Mint, she stared at her, then pointed at her triumphantly and exclaimed. "You're in love with someone! No, two someones!"

"Um…." Mint looked a bit uncomfortable. "Actually, yes"

"You're having trouble deciding who you really love."

"Right…"

"Keep thinking. You'll figure it out soon, I promise."

"Who do you like Mint-oneechan na no da?" Sang Pudding slyly.

Mint sighed. "I'll tell you later…"

"No! Tell us now!" Ichigo squealed.

"Hey, calm down guys." Aiko chuckled. "Wanna take a small love test?"

I answered for everyone. "Absolutly, Aiko-sama!!"

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**Yep, a note in the middle of the story! But read this, it's highly importiant. Kinomi is about to take a love test, and the questions are underlined. I have tried this love test before and found it to be pretty acurate, so I'm gonna recomment that whever you see an underlined question, you answer it, ok? Don't cheat and skip ahead to the answers!**

**Really, this love test works!**

**Second Disclaimer: I do not own this love test. I got it from Mamotte! Lollipop**

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She chuckled again. "-sama. I'll never get used to that…." She said to herself, then said in a louder voice so everyone could hear:

"You're at the beach. After lots of swimming and sunbathing, you get thirsty You run into a rest area and drink barley tea. Then what do you say?"

Everyone was quiet for a little, then Lettuce said "T-Thank you"

"For what?"

"No, I m-mean, that's what I'd say. 'Thank y-you'."

"Pudding would say: Pudding liked that na no da!!'" Pudding squealed.

"Uh, I think I'd say 'Thank you', too" Ichigo mused.

"'That was awesome'. That's wha'd I'd say!" Mint smiled.

"Um…" Zakuro thought for a second. "'Interesting…'"

"What is?"

"No, I mean I'd say 'Interesting'…"

Everyone glanced to me. "Kinomi?"

"Well, uh…" I thought for a second, then surprised myself with my answer. "I wouldn't say anything. I'd just get more barley tea!"

"Ok, good answers everyone! And now for what they mean"

I could almost hear a drumroll as Aiko paused for dramatic effect.

"You answers are what you'd say after your first kiss!!"

I started to laugh. "Mint, your gonna say 'That was awesome' ?!"

Aiko waited for all the laughter from everyone to die down, then beckoned me and Lettuce to her. "Follow me. I'm gonna give both of you a Super LoveLove Quiz!"

"'LoveLove?" I questioned as me and Lettuce followed her into her red tent. Inside were a few chairs, a bookshelf, and a few other knickknacks.

"Hey, don't blame me. I didn't think up the name. This test has been in my family for generations"

"Wow…"

"Well, don't just stand there, sit down!" Aiko took a seat in one of the chairs. Lettuce and I sat down in front of her. She handed us some pens and a pad of paper each. "I'll ask a question, and you right down your answer, 'k?"

"O-Ok…"

"Sounds easy enough"

"Alright, here we go!" Aiko winked at us. "Remember, trust your heart and go with your gut! Here's the first question:

"There are four pieces of cake in front of you: strawberry shortcake, chocolate cake, cheesecake, and fruit tart. Which boy would you share each piece with?"

Huh. That sounded pretty simple. I scribbled down four names, grinning to myself. This was fun.

"Done?" Aiko asked. We nodded. "Good! Now here's the next question:

"Your lost in the woods and find a house. You go inside. How many chairs are at the table?"

I wrote down a number. Beside me, Lettuce's pen scratched across the surface of the paper.

"Next one:

"How many chairs at the table? Make sure your answer is not a very high number"

Curious as to how this was relevant, I marked down my answer.

"How many stairs on the stairwell? Be sure not to choose a number that's too high or too low! If you're in your teens, an answer in the teens should be perfect."

I put down an answer.

"Now, who's standing on top of those stairs?"

I amazed myself with this answer. Wait, didn't I already use him on the cake thing?

"Last question:

"You lose an important key, but you find it in a certain place. Where did you find it: The park, the school, the beach, or the amusement park?"

I thought for a second, then wrote down 'The Park'.

"Alright, done?"

"H-Hang on…!" Lettuce was still thinking. A minute later, she wrote down her answer.

"I'm done, too" I said.

"Ok great!" Aiko's smile was radiant. My heart felt fluttery from anticipation. Maybe the answers to this test would help me figure out the meaning of my Heart-K-X thingy!

"OK, first the cake! The fruit tart is crumbly and requires care in eating, so you think the guy you shared this with is a treacherous type."

She was right about that. I had put Chi down for this one.

"Cheesecake, with its pleasant texture, means that you find this guy interesting."

Huh. I _did _think Tart was interesting. Not in a way that I loved him, but in a way that wanted to get to know him better.

"Strawberry shortcake means a popular guy you could tell anything to!" Aiko went on, excitement growing in her voice.

"That's definitely Ichirou!" I laughed.

"I-I put down Keiichiro, and it's t-true!!" Lettuce looked amazed. "All these are true!"

"Of course!" Aiko winked. "This is the most accurate love test I've got! And guess what chocolate cake means!"

"What?" Lettuce and I said at the same time.

Aiko giggled. "Chocolate represents the bittersweet feelings of love! The guy here is the one you love!!"

What!?

I glanced down at the name. No…it couldn't be….

"The house you found in the woods represents your home, and your marriage!" Aiko said, laughing at mine and Lettuce's freaked out reactions. "The number of chairs represents the number of kids you want to have."

A least she got that one right. I _did_ only want one kid…

"The number of stairs, plus your currant age, is the age at which you'll get married"

Let's see….I put down 11 for the stairs, and since I'm thirteen, that means I'll get married at age 24. I can live with that.

"And for the person on top of the stairs" Aiko couldn't hold back a small giggle at this point. "That's the person you want to marry!"

No. This couldn't be right. This was the guy I had put down for the chocolate cake.

The guy who's head kept popping into my head.

B-But I hated him!

Aiko was saying "And the place where you found that important key is the place where you'll have your first kiss with this guy!" But I was barely paying any attention to her. I was just staring at that simple four-letter name on my paper that was at both the chocolate cake and top of the stairs.

The name of the guy who's face kept popping into my head.

The name of the guy I really hated.

But loved so much despite that.

There. I said it.

I loved him.

I hated him.

I loved him.

I hated him for being the one I loved.

I hated myself for loving him.

Why did I have to love _him_, of all people?

I just stared down at the name, and whispered it to myself, letting the sound fill me up. I could no longer deny that I didn't love him.

I'll say it again…

I'm not proud of it…..

I loved him…

The guy who popped into my head, the guy who's name makes my blush, the guy who I put down for the chocolate cake and top of staircase answer….

Kish.

I loved Kish.

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**Yup! That's right! Kinomi loves Kish! R&R and tell me what you think!**

**Also, be sure to tell me how you did with the love test, and what you think of the Kinomi's OC form-thingy. **

**And, also, if you didn't understand or know what some of the Japanese words I used here meant, ask me and I'll tell you.**


	6. Blind Dates are Chaos

**Hi, it's me! Forgive me if I've been overdoing it on the fluff, or if I've been rushing. i wanna get to chapter 9 so bad! So sorry! I promise, i'll cut down on the fluff! Maybe...**

**And I think I'm making mint to OOC, so sorry about that too!**

**Diclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, _Mamotte! Lollipop, Princess Tutu,_ lightsabers_,_ or any other manga or song used here. Masami-chan belongs to Chiharu-chan****, who is an awesome writer. Please read her work, it rules.**

**Claimer: I do own Kaito, Kinomi, Ichirou, Aiko-sama, and the poem at the begginning here.**

**Credit for the pickle juice goes to MewBleuberri, who told me about it. I got no reading on how well it works on broken hearts, but it is really good on colds and stuff like that.**

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_It's hard to understand this_

_The emotions I have for you_

_It's impossible to explain this_

_The feeling I get from you_

_So complicated, so complex_

_No one knows the chaos that goes on in my head_

_When I think of you_

_Opposing emotions_

_That aren't really opposites_

_Insane attractions_

_That I forbid myself from_

_You are a taboo to me_

_But I still find it impossible_

_To keep my mind away_

_From the face that makes my heart light_

_Your face, you hair, your voice_

_All are forbidden_

_Yet unavoidable_

_You are a taboo_

_But still I love you_

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I really wasn't sure why I was acting like this. I mean, I knew at the start that I loved him. But that didn't mean that I liked it.

For one thing, he was my enemy.

For another, he loved Ichigo.

And the final reason was:

No.

Just _no_.

I had sworn never to fall in love again until I was old enough not to be a complete idiot about it.

Especially not with someone who tried to kill me three times a week.

It was the day after the fiasco at the streetfair. The girls were questioning me all the way home about who the guy I liked was.

I would never tell them.

These guys may have been my best friends, but some secrets I wouldn't even tell my brother.

And the fact that I'm in love with my mortal enemy was one of them.

So, now I was lying on my bed, pillow over my face, trying to sort out my chaotic emotions. It was about an hour until the blind date party, but I had other, more urgent things to think about.

Besides, what else was there to do? Joey was at an art-thing, dad was….somewhere, mom was at her nail salon, Ichirou was at kendo practice with Masaya, the Fong family had gone off to the park to do some more acrobatic moneymaking, so I was the only one here.

Yup, just me and my complicated life.

I honestly don't get how I could love someone this much while hating him. I could understand hating him, but loving him so fully and completely that it almost hurt just to think about him? That was just….

I sighed deeply, the sound muffled by the pillow. Jeez, I thought my heart had learned by now. Relationships with boys always end in tears. Sheesh, nothing short of my precious all-cure would—

All-cure.

I sat of quickly, pillow sliding off me face. Mo, I really _am_ an idiot! I leapt off my bed and sprinted down the hallway, leaping down the stairs four at a time. In no time at all I was standing in front of the open refrigerator in the kitchen, digging through it to the very back. And there, at the back, behind the mayonnaise, wedged between the cream cheese and the yogurt, I found what I was looking for: an old medicine container, the kind used to hold prescription pills. But this didn't hold any of Joey's calcium pills anymore. Now it had been washed out and filled with my precious all-cure.

I call it all-cure because that's what it is: An all-cure. Good for colds, sinus trouble, headaches, and much more.

Including broken hearts.

I pulled the tiny orange container out, then grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer. _Two spoonfuls. Just two spoonfuls _was what I kept telling myself as I poured some of the miracle liquid into the spoon. When it was full, I raised it to my lips and sipped it slowly.

Mmmmmm……so good….. I fell back onto a chair and filled another spoonful and drank it, savoring the richly bitter/sour/sweet taste. It was on my third spoonful when the front door banged open.

"Hello?" Shouted a familiar voice.

"In here!" I responded, pausing long enough to shout a quick. "Hello" as Ichirou and Masaya walked into the kitchen, tired and sweaty from kendo, and took a seat at the table.

"Hey, Kinomi" Masaya said politely. Ichirou just nodded at me.

"What brings you here, Masaya?" I asked as I refilled my spoon.

"I'm sleeping over tonight"

I stared at him as I sipped my fourth spoonful.

He stared back. "What?"

"You know Pudding's family is staying here, right?"

"Right…"

I stared at him as I refilled for my fifth spoonful. "You're pretty brave, you know that?"

Ichirou, who had gotten up to rummage in the fridge for some popsicles as Masaya and I talked, sighed and turned his head to look at me. "Kinomi, are you drinking that _again?" _

"Hai"

"You're gonna make yourself sick with that junk"

"No I won't"

"What's she drinking?" Masaya asked.

"Pickle juice" Ichirou and I said at the same time.

"What?!"

"It's like my all-cure" I answered as I took a sip. "Good for sinuses, headaches, colds, depression, broken hearts, and anything else you can think of."

"So." Ichirou sat back down at the table, handing Masaya a strawberry (ironic, no?) flavored popsicle. He began to unwrap his own, melon-flavored one. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you drinking pickle juice?"

"Must I have an excuse?"

"Yes"

"Ok, ok…" I screwed the top back on my drink. "Well, there's this guy…."

"Who is he where did he touch you do we need to report this to the police again do I know him what did he say how old is he can I please kill him?" Ichirou said this in a flat, monotone voice, like a line said waaaaaaaay too many times. I'm not sure why or how, but it's become a bit of a joke in the family to say that whenever me or my mom mentions a guy.

"Well, um, let's see….how do I say this….?" I was in the process of choosing my words carefully when the back door opened and Joey walked in. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Kinomi's got guy problems." Ichirou and Masaya said at the same time.

Joey stared at me. "Who is he where did he touch you do we need to report this to the poli—"

"Guys, just stop it!!" I snapped. I didn't mean to say it like that, but… "It's nothing like that. In fact…" I closed my eyes. "I think I—"

But before I could finish, I heard the doorbell ring. I sprung up to answer it, relieved to not to complete my thought. When I answered the door, I found Ichigo, Pudding, Zakuro, Mint, and Lettuce standing there.

"Time already?" I sighed and ran upstairs, shouting "Ichirou! It's the girls!!"

I sprinted to my room and wrenched open the closet. Maybe that vest, no that's in the laundry, how about these jeans, yah these work. I squirmed out of my sweatpants and wrestled into the dark blue jeans. When I looked up I saw Mint standing in the doorway, laughing at me.

"Oh, hi" I said, a bit embarrassed.

"Hey" Mint walked over to my closet and peered in. A second later she pulled something out. It was one of my many, many sleeveless turtlenecks, this one in a light sky blue color. "Try this one."

"Um, ok" I slipped off my t-shirt and pulled the new shirt on, then looked at myself in the mirror. Mint was _good_. The combo of blues looked awesome on me. But there was one teensy little problem…

"My Mew mark" I reached up to touch it lightly. "Everyone will be able to see it."

"Here!" Mint handed over a black knit poncho with dark pink edging. I pulled it on and found that it looked pretty awesome. As a finishing touch, I put a black beret (which Joey _claimed_ to have bought in Paris, France, but was really bought in a dollar store somewhere in the United States) at a crooked sort of angle on my head.

With my outfit perfect, I walked to the door, but Mint stopped me. "Hang on, there's something I gotta give you" Mint reached into her purse and pulled out a red fluffy thing.

"Masha?!" I exclaimed, grabbing the kawaii thing in my hands.

"Nope. R2005" Mint said. I stared at her. She sighed and explained "Once Ryou saw how useful Masha was, he built more. One for each of us." Mint plucked up her own puffball (who had been disguised as a purse charm a second ago) and held it up so I could see. It was powder blue in color, and had a halo, and wings similar to Mint's when she was in Mew form. "This is R2001, otherwise known as Angel"

"Angel and Mint! Angel and Mint!" Angel said in a kawaii, high voice, rubbing itself on Mints cheek. Mint giggled.

I looked down to my own puff-thing. Now that I really looked at it, I saw it was nothing like Masha. It was light red in color, like a sunset, and it had dark red fox ears and a tail. "Hi, Rose!" I said cheerfully, naming it on the spot.

"Rose!" It chirped, testing out its new name. "Rose like! Rose stay with Kinomi!"

I giggled. I already loved her.

Once Angel and Rose were safely disguised as charms, we entered the kitchen, where the girls were playing with puffballs of their own. Ichirou and Masaya were watching with amused expressions. Joey was nowhere to be seen .

"Eh? Oh, hi Kinomi!" Ichigo called as Rose and Angel retuned to normal size to play with their comrades. "Wha'd you name her?"

"Rose!" I said happily. "What about you guys?"

"Pudding's is Banana na no da!!" Squealed Pudding, who cuddling a puffball that was the bright yellow of a…well, a banana. It had little brown monkey ears and a monkey tail that was currently twisted around her index finger.

"I-I named mine Ribbon…" Lettuce smiled as she gently stroked a sea green one with a tail like Masha's and a dark green bow on its head.

"Ume" Zakuro said, blinking at the deep purple one with grey wolf ears and tail that rested on the palm of her hand.

I sat down on the counter, letting Ichirou pick Rose up and examine her. Beside him, Masaya and Ichigo were laughing at something, just basically chatting, Masha flitting between them and squeaking things like 'Masaya and Ichigo!" and "Aoyama Ichigo!"

" Masaya knows?" I questioned, watching Mint with a bit of amusement. She was watching Ichirou with a strange look on her face, cheeks slightly pink.

"Uh-huh." Ichirou answered, poking at Rose. She squeaked unhappily and floated back over to me. He didn't seem to notice Mint. "So, what do these things do other than chirp, fly, and look cute?"

"They can sense aliens"

Ichirou and I glanced at Mint. Her gaze flicked down from Ichirou's face to rest on her shoes, and she turned slightly more pink "Keiichiro told me. They can detect aliens, and communicate with each other. When one alien attacks one Mew, everyone will know…" Mint glanced up again. "What?" She demanded in response to our stifled giggles. "Your wings" I managed to say.

"Hm?" Mint glanced behind her to see that her bird tail and small blue wings had popped out in response to her embarrassment. Ichirou and I burst out laughing at the look of shocked surprise on her face. Mint forced her tail and wings down and glared at us. "It's not funny"

"No!" Ichirou agreed. "It's hilarious!"

"Hey, guys!" I heard Ichigo call over the noise. "Time to go!"

"Cya later" The guys called as the girls and I stepped outside.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Hi, guys!" Hanako seemed to be on a bit of a sugar rush as she greeted us. "Glad you could come!"

"Glad to be here" I heard myself say.

Hanako stepped aside to let us into her backyard, and instantly we were buffeted by the loud music and the rumble of chatter. The middle of the yard was cleared to become a dance floor, with tables, chairs, and snack bars all around the perimeter, a DJ set up at the far end. "Cool na no da!" Was how Pudding summed up the general feeling of the group.

So, with that statement, we all wandered off. Or, rather, Ichigo and Lettuce walked off to the nearest snack bar, Zakuro and Mint went to go snag a table, and I went off to see what those tents in the corner were, Pudding following me. I could easily see from the huge sign on the first that it sold those temporary Mew Mew tattoos. The second, I wasn't sure. So I walked in and—

"Aiko-sama!"

Aiko was sitting inside, facing a girl with long silvery hair. "Hm? Oh, hi Kinomi-chan, Pudding-chan"

The silver hair girl raised a hand in greeting. "This is Kartami Masami" Aiko saved us the trouble of an introduction by doing it for us. "I just finished giving her a love test. Masami-san, this is Konichiwu Kinomi and Fong Pudding."

"Nice to meet you"

"Same to you"

"Hi Masami-san na no da!"

"Hey!" Hoshiko stuck her head in the tent. "Masami-chan, Hanako-chan's looking for you. She says there's this one guy your gonna _luuuuuuuv"_ She said the last word with a heavy dose of sarcasm. I giggled slightly as Masami groaned "Again? That's the fifth guy tonight…" But, grudgingly, she followed Hoshiko out, calling over her shoulder. "Bye, Kinomi-san, Pudding-san, Aiko-san" As she left, I heard her mutter. "Now, how should I kill this guy…."

"Bye" I called, trying not to giggle.

I turned to Aiko. "So, uh, Aiko-sama…can I talk to you for a second"

Aiko smiled. "You don't have to call me –sama, you know"

"I know"

"Pudding's hungry…" Pudding whined as her stomach growled loudly. "Can we go get some food now na no da?"

"You go ahead, I'll meet you at the snack table"

"Ok Kinomi-oneechan na no da!" With that, the little monkey-girl ran out of the tent to fill her already hyper self with more sugar.

There was a kind of silent tension when Pudding ran out. Aiko and I just stood, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. Which neither of us was planning to do anytime soon. Now, faced with the prospect of finally discussing this with someone, I was tongue tied. To ease the silence, I walked the perimeter of the tent, inspecting everything I passed. There was a mini-fridge in the corner, piles of books, foldable chairs, candles, a flashlight, a battery-powered radio, Ipod sitting on top of that, and—

"You like _Pichi Pichi Pitch?!" _I exclaimed as I came across a little stack of the book that sat atop another stack of larger books with titles such as _Computers for Dummies, Basic French, _and _Cooking for Two: An Introduction to Simple Menus. _

"Uh-huh. It's my favorite"

"I bet Hanon's your favorite character, right?"

"Yah, how'd you know?"

But, after that brief splash of chatter, the silence once again overtook us.

"So, uh, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Aiko said in a desperate attempt to regain conversation.

"The love test"

Aiko nodded as if to say 'go on, I'm listening'.

"Th-the guy I love….." I began softly. "I can't love him"

"You can't or you won't?"

"Both"

Aiko put both her hands on my shoulders. "Kinomi-chan, your feelings toward him are complicated, chaotic, and, in your opinion, forbidden"

"Exactly"

"But they aren't"

I looked up to her. "Wha….?"

"You love him."

"Yah, we went over that already."

"And you're obsessing over that?"

"I guess……"

"Well, don't"

I stared at her, waiting for her to explain.

"Look, no one ever said love was easy. But trust me. Stay true to yourself, and your heart will work it out on its own."

"Um…." I blinked. "Ok….."

Aiko smiled. "There. Problem solved."

I smiled back, but it was only a mask. This problem was far from solved… "Do you know who it is?" I asked softly, praying that she didn't.

"Nope! Not a clue!" Aiko said with a touch of sarcasm and a little wink that made me wonder if she _did_ know. Then her face turned serious. "Look, I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up"

"I'm listening…"

Aiko just stared at me. She seemed to be thinking about how exactly she should say this. I felt a chill descend over my body. When someone looks at you like that, you know its bad news.

"Kinomi-chan…" Aiko said slowly after a long pause. "I can see the road ahead is dangerous. And I don't mean just a broken heart." Aiko's words was beginning to scare me a little. "If you're not careful, you're gonna end up dead. And not just you, your friends, your family… _everyone_"

I just stared at her. Just stared.

"And, soon…" Aiko looked…sad as she said this. Not crying, no teary-eyed manga-sad. True sad. Slight frown, big concerned eyes, a slight edge in the way her fingers gripped my shoulders. "J-Just…just be careful. Ok?"

"Alright, Aiko-sama"

Aiko looked like she wanted to tell me more, but at that moment Pudding popped her head in, her face smeared with chocolate. I could hear lyrics of _"One love! Two love? Three love! Come on! One love! Two love? Three love! Four love? One love! Two love? Three love! Come on ! One love! Two love? Three love! Four love? One love! Two love? Three love! Come on!"_Being yelled from the dance floor

"Kinomi-oneechan na no da! Come dance with Pudding na no da!" Pudding yelled as she ran over and grabbed my hand to pull me outside.

I looked at Aiko, but she had already wiped every trace of unhappiness from her face, and was now smiling as though nothing was wrong. I grinned at her and let Pudding pull me out. As I left thought I heard her whisper "Be careful, Kinomi-chan…"

"C'mon, dance na no da! Dance with Pudding na no da!" Pudding beamed as she dragged me into the middle if the 'dance floor'. I grabbed Pudding's hands and spun her around. She giggled and ducked under my arms. She'd lead, then me, then her, until it was hared to tell who was doing what.

It was almost impossible to dance correctly, and all the more fun because of that. Pudding and I were right in the middle of a clump of dancing, yelling, laughing, singing, and sometimes making-out people. So while Pudding and I were singing our vocal cords to shreds and spinning and jumping and just basically having the time of our lives, so were about 50 million other people.

_"Aitaku natte Aenai nante_

_Tsumaranai kara moshishite IIn janai?_

_Watashi no Sadness Sayonara Sadness_

_Rockin' Roll otoreru? Nee asonjao"_

I spun Pudding away from me for what felt like the eighth time, and held out my hand to grab her back. But the hand that closed around mine was bigger, rougher. I looked up to see a boy, tan and tall as I was, with dark brown hair with green streaks.

_"Hey boys!_

_Can you tell us to rock 'n roll?"_

Now me and the mystery guy were dancing, he leading and me following. I glanced over to Hanako, who was dancing close to her boyfriend. She caught my confused look, pointed to mystery guy, and mouthed "Don't worry, he's for you".

So I continued the dance in the arms of some guy I didn't know.

Wonderful. Just great……

"Who are you?" I asked over the yelling as he swung me under his arm gracefully.

"Kaito. You?"

"Kinomi" I glanced around to see where Pudding was. The song had ended barely two seconds before, and already she was at the snack table stuffing herself with chocolate. Again. I stifled a small chuckle, then felt a sudden tugging at my hand. The Kaito guy was pulling me to a table in the corner. I followed willingly for I had nothing better to do, since I hated the song that had come on now.

"So" I said when he plopped into the seat across from me. "I guess Hanako set us up"

Kaito shrugged. "Uh-huh."

"She always does that, it dives me nuts……"

"Gomen" Kaito said, giving the slightest hint of a smile. "I wouldn't know, I'm Hoshi-san's friend"

"Hm." I said. It didn't really mean anything, just a sort of sound to show I had heard him. Hoshi was Hanako's boyfriend, by the way.

"Um….." Kaito fidgeted slightly, trying to find a conversation topic. "Y-You like _Mamotte! Lollipop_?" He said after a short pause in reference to the fact that we had just been dancing to it's theme song.

"Uh-huh. Zero and Nina forever!" I shouted enthusiastically, punching my fist in the air.

"I personally think Sun-chan and For-chan area cuter couple."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"What?"

"You watch that show?"

"No, I read the manga. It's a lot better than the anime."

"Right." I said. I was surprised that there was actually a guy that liked _Mamotte! Lollipop. _Mostly only girls read that. Even Ichirou hated it. And, let's face it, he's not normal. He watches _Princess Tutu_.

And that's how the chat started. Ranging from manga to anime to ice cream. Basically, he seemed sweet, funny, polite, and free-talking. I swear, I was aboutthisclose from confessing all my dark secrets to him, like the fact that I still sleep with a little stuffed penguin named Hippo-sama. Not even Joey knew that. Or Ichirou. Only Pudding, and that's because she shared my bed (which is fun but annoying. She kicks in her sleep and snores. But fair enough, seeing as I always hog the covers).

Honestly, I've never been this open with a guy. I was feeling that tiny trigger of hope that I would be able to fall out of love with Kish and in love with him.

Whoops. I shouldn't have thought about Kish. His face appeared over Kaito's, Kaito's explanation of how to make an accurate Zero cosplay drowned out by Kish's voice.

Falling out of love with a guy who could make me grin like this was gonna be harder than I thought.

"Hello? Earth to Kinomi-chan?"

"Eh?" I blinked myself back into present day, striving to keep my mind from Kish-land. Kaito was waving his hand in front of my face. "Sorry Kaito-kun. Did I space out again?"

"Yep. I'm guessing you like someone?"

"Uhm……" HOW THE SMOOF DID HE FIND OUT?!

"Your bushing."

"Oh…."

And the next second I was blushing a whole lot more. Up started a slow song. 'Listen to your heart'. The slow dance, romantic version.

_I know there's something in the wake of your smile.  
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yea.  
You've built a love but that love falls apart.  
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark._

"Who is it?"

I remained silent.

"C'mon, you can tell me!"

More silence.

"Please!?"

Silence.

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.  
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yea.  
Theyre swept away and nothing is what is seems,  
The feeling of belonging to your dreams._

"Why can't you tell me?"

"It's none of your bussness" I said quietly.

Kato was silent for a long time. Then he said in a slightly hopeful voice "Is it me?"

I stared at him. He had a face that was a combination of hopeful, determined, and defeted. He had just as good as confessed love to me, threw himself at my mercy. Now I had to respond.

Perfect. I opened my mouth to say 'Yes' and just get over my love for some guy I shouldn't love (Kish) but before I could speak…..

_Listen to your heart  
When he__'s calling for you.  
Listen to your heart  
Theres nothing else you can do.  
I dont know where youre going  
And I dont know why,  
But listen to your heart  
Before you tell him goodbye._

Kish immedaitly jumped to my head.

I listened to the song lyrics. And Aiko's words reverberated in my ears. _Trust your heart and go with your gut_. Casually spoken words, but now they sounded like the most importaint nugget of wisdom in this lifetime.

What does my heart say?

Who do I really love?

Why am I even bothering to ask?

"No" I said softly. "I like you a lot, Kaito-kun. But I really love someone else. Gomenesai"

"Oh….." He blinked. "W-Well, that's ok…." He didn't sound ok though……

"Gomenesai…"

"N-No, really, it's fine"

"You sure?"

"Uh-huh" He answered confidently. He looked a lot better now. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Uhm…."

Kaito must've seen there was gonna be no answer for that, so he changed tactics. "What do you like about him that much?"

Sheesh, what wasn't there to like. "He's nice. And strong. And…" I blushed, my speech becoming more rapid. I had now reached what I truly loved about Kish. "He's playful, and very passionent! He's the type who'll die for what he loves! And he's daring, not afraid to kiss you! And he's hoooot!! His eyes feel like they're staring right into my soul!!"

I will admit:

I was blushing and squealing like a fangirl.

And then it hit me. "I just said all that out loud, didn't I?

"Uh-huh"

I mentally kicked myself.

"So, who is this passionent, hot, strong, nice, playful, daring, stare-into-your-soul dude anyways? He sounds like a real piece of work to me."

I ignored the insult. Dare I tell him?

I trusted him.

He didn't even know who Kish was.

"His name… his name is—" But before I could finnish, Pudding jumped up from a bush beside us. "She's gonna tell us na no da!" Then I saw Ichigo pull her down, and hear Lettuce say "Uh-oh"

THEY HAD BEEN SPYING ON US?!

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"Thanks for coming with Pudding to pick up some milk na no da!!"

"No problem. It's not like we don't need it"

I walked beside Pudding down the sidewalk. On the way home from the chaos known as the blind date party. I relived the scene in my head as we walked and Pudding ranted about nothing in particular.

_"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" I asked angily._

_Lettuce, Pudding, and Ichigo stood up and stepped out of the bush, looking guilty. Or, at least, Ichigo and Lettuce did. Pudding just looked hyper as ever. Kaito looked surprise, which in my opinion was an understatement._

_"Plan didn't work, huh?" Zakuro was walking over, Mint folowing like a puppy. _

_"Plan? What Plan?"_

_And so it was reveiled. Ichigo had told Hanako that I liked someone, so she set me up with someone who could get me to tell who it was. I was just about to explode in fury when Zakuro put a hand on my shoulder._

_"They were worried" She said calmly. "Your've been so stange lately, we wanted to make sure you were ok"_

_And so I let them slide. _

_Just this once._

I walked into a telophone pole.

"Are you ok Kinomi-oneechan?!"

"Uh-huh" I said numbly. In reality, I knew I'd have a bruise the size oof a softball by morning, but whatever….

I walked around the pole and strolled on. I wasn't mad at Kaito, he had no clue that he was being set up for this.

"Hey losers!"

Triple smoof. I knew that voice. And it was only confermed by Pudding excited squeal of "TAR-TAR NA NO DA!!"

"ACK, PUDDING, GET OFF OF ME!!"

I tried not to giggle as I looked up to see Pudding hugging Tart tightly. Tart pushed her off and flew out of her reach. "I'm here to kill you, not get hugged by you!" Tart yelled as he made a fist. He punched it in the air, and I wondered what the heck this little brat was—

"GET OUT OF THE WAY KINOMI-ONEECHAN NA NO DA!!"

Something small pushed me in the back, and I fell forword. When I picked myself off the concrete, I turned to see..

Roots or vines or whatever had sprung up out of nowhere, ensnaring Pudding, sufficating her. I saw her face steadily turning blue, saw her mouth for the words "Tart-Tar na no da", but no sound came out. I glanced to Tart, and was surprised by the look on his face.

He looked shocked. I could tell he had been aiming for me, but Pudding got in the way. Tart looked completely frozen. There was something like pain in his eyes as he watched Pudding gasp for air. He didn't want to hurt Pudding.

He blinked, reganing control of himself, and forced the vines down. Pudding dropped the ground. I didn't know if she was alive or dead.And right now I didn't really care. Right now all I cared about was killing Tart as painfully as possible.

I kicked him in the stomach. He was flung backwards onto the hard ground, but he sprung back up faster than a daruma and summoned his swords. I faked another kick at him and grabbed one of the swords as he ducked.

"So you think you can fight, huh?" Tart shot. In truth, I had no clue in the world how to use a sword. Looks like I was about to get a crash course.

He slashed at me. I dodged. He was good. I wasn't. His moves were all coordinated as we fought, each thought out and planned perfectly in a millisecond. Mine weren't. Mine looked like if you had handed a four-year-old a Lightsaber. Wild, slashing, and bound to cut off someone's head eventually. So I didn't think what I was doing when I brought the sword slashing down enexpectedly.

It was like that sudden slow-motion in the action moves. Every suddely seemed to move at half regular speed. My sword was aimed right at his neck. He was shielding in the wrong direction with his sword, free hand raised over his face.

Inseconds this sword whold slice across his neck and slit his throat.

I was going to kill him.

I was going to kill the guy who hurt Pudding.

And I'm glad I was gonna kill him.

I wanted him to die.

But then my mind jumped back to that time so many eons ago, as Chi taunted Tart about his family.

The image of shaking, sobbing Tart had been burned into my mind. This kid's entire family had been murdered in cold blood right in front of his eyes. From what Chi said, Tart had nearly died trying to protect his sister.

Mid-swing, my sword shifted.

A spray of red hit me in the face.

Smoof, did I really kill him?!

I had moved the sword ever so slightly off course so it wouldn't hit him.

I didn't want him to die.

I don't know why, but I couldn't kill him.

But now I think I just did by mistake.

I was nearly sick as the thought hit me. I had just killed someone. Murdered him. I was no better than Chi. I chanced at open my eyes, and nearly fainted in releif.

I didn't kill him after all.

Instead I had slashed open his arm. Blood dripped from the deep cut that ran from elbow to wrist, but it wasn't life threatening. It would heal.

I suddenly grabbed Tart's free hand, the one that had been cut, and flipped it palm-side-up, and pressed the handle of the blood-spattered sword into it, closing his fingers around the hilt.

"Wha…?"

"You win" I said with finality, taking two steps backwards. Tart stared at me, then teleported away, muttering "Humans are so weird…"

I nearly broke out in a smile, but then I remembered one importiant thing…

"PUDDING!!" I ran over to beside the child and felt at her neck for a pulse. She was out cold, her neck red, but she was breathing and alive.

Good.

I scooped her up in my arms and continued walking as though nothing had happened.

"Tar-Tart na no da" Pudding giggled in her sleep. I smiled slightly to myself. She really loved that guy, even though he was our enemy.

I blinked. And ran the thought through my mind again.

Pudding was in love with Tart.

One of the aliens.

One of our enemies.

And Tart didn't love her back.

Wow. Pudding and I were more alike than I thought.

"Kinomi-oneechan?"

I glanced down at the small girl in my arms. She was awake now, sitting up in my arms, eyes big. "Why does Tar-Tar hate Pudding na no da?"

She sounded so innocent. I don't think she knows that Tart didn't really wanna hurt her. "I don't think he hates you, Pudding"

"He says he does na no da"

"He doesn't. He doesn't want to hurt you."

"Then why does he always say he hates Pudding? Why is he always so mean to Pudding na no da?"

I hugged Pudding tight. "I sure wish I knew, kiddo"

She hugged me back. I felt like we were on the same wavelength.

Sisters.

Loving someone they shouldn't.

It felt good to know I wasn't the only one.

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**Millions of thanks for reading this. and, yes, the only reason i gave them all robots is so that Kinomi could get one! They're so cute! So sorry if i overdid it any here, and R&R and tell me your thoughts. i will not update untill I get 15 more reveiws! Cya then!**


	7. Death By Chocolate! not the ice cream

**Hiiiii! I'm back with my randomness!! Kinomi's schedule is a little hetic today, so just to tell you: it's wake up, do homework, get lectured by mom, go to karate, and kill time at park with Pudding. Things may happen a little fast in this chapter. Sorry, still getting used to typing on this stupid new laptop...**

**Also, on this Love Test (please take it. it's not as acurate as before but still acurate), the answers the questions in 1-2-4-5, and the answers 1-4-5-2. there is a reason for this. Remember that and you will not get confused! Much...this is a confusing chapter... (sweatdrop)**

**Really Long Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew, DDR or any of it's songs, or Rachel Ray. Toffee (mentioned very briefly) is owned by MewToffee (I hope that's your mew), Tasumi and Masami are owned by Chiharu-chan, Bleuberri and Kwin and Nisiki are owned by MewBleuberri (now IzumiNeko, or something like that), and Honey is owned by Michikoneko. And, uh, sorry if I missed anyone!**

**Claimer: I own Aiko-sama, Kinomi, Ichirou, Joey, and the little voice in Kinomi's head.**

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The next Saturday morning after the blind date party found my lying on my stomach atop a blanket on the grass, tiny computer headphones over my ears, the laptop Joey and Ichirou and me share playing a DVD of the Japanese dub of _Aladdin _but I wasn't really paying attention, reading the latest issue of _Okashi Baby _magazine (I know the title sounds goofy, but it's got love tests, updates in the manga and anime world, the current events of the area, cosplaying tips, and the other kinda stuff I like. Usually it's also got an article on Tokyo Mew Mew, which makes me laugh every time I read it). I idly flipped a page of the magazine as Genie's singing filled my ears and blocked out the normal sounds of wining kids, shrill songbirds, and gasps of amazement at Pudding's antics that usually accompanied the park. Specifically, the park from under my favorite sakura tree in the middle of the park. My hand and the cuts across my face still smarted from the mishap in karate where I had misjudged a punch and ended up bashing my fist through a window of inch-thick glass, the bruise on my head was still sore from where I walked into that telephone pole after the party, and my brain was still half-dead from the million-hour lecture of the importance of getting good grades from Mom after I brought home a '_C_ 'on yesterday's math test. So, the only tonic was to accompany Pudding to the park, and kill time until the girls and I went to the arcade by watching Disney.

I guess I should tell you this now: I'm a big Disney fan. Not any of that new stuff (High School Musical still gives me nightmares), but the old cartoons. _Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty. _I don't like _Cinderella_ much, but I love _Anastasia, Mulan, and Aladdin_ insanely, and anything with Mickey or Goofy was automatically good. And, of course, _Pirates of the Carrabin_ still remains tops in my collection. Even though it's new and not a cartoon. I often like to grab one of the movies and watch it in both English and Japanese just for the pleasure of seeing what changed during the dub.

Sometimes it pays to be bilingual, even if that pay is only the ability to watch a cartoon in two different languages and understand it without the use of annoying subtitles…

But, back to the present.

The page I had just flipped to reveal a brightly decorated splash of colors and micro-pictures. The title at the top read _Real Love Relationship Test! This Trip To the Beach Will Reveal Your Love Pattern!_ My eyes flicked to the writer's name:

Renokashi Aiko.

I grinned. Aiko-sama finally got a roll in a magazine.

I pulled out a pen and started to read the test questions as Aladdin met Jasmine for the first time. First question:

You go to the beach with your friends. What's the color of your bathing suit?

_1. Pink_

_2. Light Blue_

_3. White_

_4. Black_

_5. Red_

I circled Red without hesitation and moved on:

The weather is awesome! What do you want to do?

_1. Watermelon Splitting_

_2. Beach Volleyball_

_3. Swimming_

_4. Sunbathing (napping) _

Ah, watermelon splitting. The fantastic and utterly pointless beach tradition of trying to split a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded. The best beach game. Honestly, what's better than a totally edible pinata? And once the watermelon were split, the subgames of seed-spitting, watermelon-eating contests followed, and after that came a major sugar rush. So I circled _Watermelon Splitting_ and moved on to question 3.

Or, I would have, if not for the fact that it was the same 'Barley Tea' question that Aiko had asked all of us at the street fair. I tried not to smile as I went on to question 4:

Coincidentally, five boys you know are having shaved ice at a rest area. Now name the boy whose personality would match the following flavors of the syrup.

_1. Strawberry_

_2. Melon_

_3. Lemon_

_4. Blue Hawaiian_

_5. Green Tea_

After a little thought, I marked down Ichirou for Strawberry (although Masaya might have been more fitting…), Kaito for Lemon, Ryou for Blue Hawaiian, Joey for Green Tea, and (blush) Kish for Melon.

The last question read:

You go out with the boys. You all decide to play in the sand, but what are you going to do?!

_1. Build a sand castle_

_2. Build a mound_

_3. Bury someone_

_4. Get yourself buried_

This was a no-brainer. _Definitely _bury someone.

I felt a tiny prickle at the back of my neck, the kind that alerts you to some stalker watching you. But this felt good, accompanied by a happy tingle in my stomach. I glanced around, saw no one, shrugged, and flipped to next page for the results. They were:

Question One Results: Your Aggression level and Confession Style

_1.Pink- 100 percent Aggressive- Persistent even when he's got a girlfriend, you'd try to attract him with your femininity! _

_2. Light Blue- 40 percent Aggressive- Shrewd, you'd ask him out, but wait for him to confess his love. _

_3.White- 20 percent Aggressive- Even if it's just a crush, your relatively happy watching from afar._

_4.Black- 60 percent Aggressive- Preferring to write a love letter, you're practical at approaching him after gathering information._

_5.Red- If he's not involved in a relationship, you'd call and confess your love to him!_

I had chosen red. Weird thing is, that's how I've pretty much been almost all my life. I was about to check the results of the second question, when Pudding plopped herself down beside me. "Watcha doin' na no da?"

"Taking a love test and watching_ Aladdin_" I answered as I handed her a second set of headphones. The little monkey girl pointed at Abu and Jasmine. "They're my favorite na no da"

Jasmine was my favorite, too, but before I could agree, Pudding pointed to my magazine. "Can Pudding take the test after you na no da?"

"Sure" I said, making a mental reminder to erase Kish's name from the shaved ice question.

But Pudding had broke my train of thought when she spoke, so when I resumed my answer-checking, I restarted on question four's results, which confused me for a second.

Question Four Results: What he means to you.

_1. Strawberry-A Friend-For its pleasant taste that everyone likes, strawberry symbolizes friendship._

_2. Melon- A Lover- Its tongue-changing feature—his ability to change your outlook—indicates a symbol of love._

_3. Lemon- Someone Who Loves You- Sweet and stimulating, lemon flavor indicates you're his love interest._

_4. Blue Hawaii- Someone You'd Kiss- It's mature taste represents a boy who excites you._

_5. Green Tea- Someone You Respect- Someone you respect. Its soothing affect shows an individual who'd accept you. _

Let's see… I had chosen Ichirou for strawberry. And it was totally, completely true.

I had put Kaito for lemon. Nothing new there…

Ryou had been down for blue Hawaii. Uhm……… Let's move on and not discuss that shall we? (nervous laughter and sweatdrop)

As for green tea, Joey suited that answer perfectly.

And Kish had been for melon…

"Why are you blushing, Kinomi-oneechan na no da?"

"I'm not blushing!"

"Yes you are na no da!"

"Er……"

But Pudding had already lost interest. She tugged lightly at a strand of my hair. "Can Pudding braid your hair na no da?

"Of course" I dug through my bag for a pack of rubber bands. I grabbed them and handed them to Pudding, who immediately ripped them open, spilling the little black rings of rubber across the blanket.

Question Five Results: Someone you'd fall in love with at first sight.

_1. Build a sand castle- He's full of confidence. An older, reliable person._

_2. Build a mound- He has excellent reflexes. An athlete of your age._

_3. Bury someone- Someone entertaining and the same age as you._

_4. Get yourself buried- A cute younger boy who'd depend on you__._

I had chosen to bury someone. And, freakily, the description fits Kish perfectly…

Um, ok, moving on back to question 2 before I start blushing…

Question Two Results: Your Thrilling Chance of Getting Kissed.

_Watermelon Splitting- 80 percent Aggressive- You're a real thrill seeker. Are you close to kissing?!_

_Beach Volleyball- 60 percent Aggressive- An indirect kiss is a possibility for someone seeking a little thrill like you._

_Swimming- 40 percent Aggressive- Preferring less excitement, you're uncomfortable with kissing, but you can hold hands._

_Sunbathing- 20 percent Aggressive- Lacking in thrills, you won't be kissing for quite a while._

_Kiss….._ I though as I closed the magazine and layed my head down on my arms. I didn't even try to stop the thought. _What would it be like to kiss Kish…? _

And, with soothing thoughts of Kish kisses in my mind, and Pudding's tiny, nimble fingers working through my hair, I fell asleep.

And dreamed.

It was just some weird wonderland of chocolate milkshakes and marshmallows falling from the sky. Please don't ask, I have reeeeeeeaaaaaaaly freaky dreams.

And they just got even freakier.

Suddenly the random (but enjoyable)sights and sounds of my dream were cut off as if by a switch. "Hey, what gives?" I yelled into the darkness. "What the smoof is going on?!"

Nothing.

Complete, total silence and blackness.

And then the visions started again.

Not really visions, exactly, cause a vision is just that. A vision. Sight only.

No, this used every one of my senses. Everything was just fuzzy blobs, hazy, like I was crying uber-hard. There was a cold, triumphant question of "Well?" that must have been asked by Chi, then Pie, sounding hollow and empty, saying something I couldn't understand. Chi again "Then my work here is done". And then a sharp, agonizing pain centered in my chest. Tears stinging at my eyes, I clutched at my heart, which hurt more than I thought possible. I was suffocating, thorny vines twisting around my wrists and ankles and neck, the stench of freshly spilled blood all around me.

You know what rescued me from my nightmare?

A voice.

Kish's voice.

Singing.

You heard me, Kish was _singing!_

And he was _good._

And then there was my voice sing along with him…

I opened my eyes to see, not Kish, but Aladdin and Jasmine flying around on a magic carpet and singing 'A Whole New World'.

Jasmine sounded like me…

And ALADDIN sounded like KISH.

I mean EXACTLY LIKE KISH.

FREAKY!!

"What's wrong, Kinomi-oneechan na no da?"

"N-Nothing!" I sat up. I felt my neck, finding it raw and tender, like I was _really_ suffocated. My chest felt like it was on fire.

What the heck was going on?

"Hey Pudding" I panted. I had to calm down. It was just a dream. Just a dream… "Have you had any weird dreams lately?"

"Well, Pudding had one last night about a giant house made of chocolate with—"

"No, I mean, like, scary weird."

Pudding paused. She had just been securing a bad around the now completed braid. Or rather, bundle of braids. She had braided my hair into nine braids, which she braided into three braids, which she braided into one braid. The overall effect was slightly dizzifying.

"Yes" Pudding said after a few seconds. "You're crying and there's someone lying in front of you and not moving and Tar-Tar's crying and there's lots of blood and--" Pudding squeezed me tight, hoping it would give her comfort. "It's so scary na no da!"

I hugged her back. And thought. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Pudding didn't want to worry you na no da" I shushed Pudding gently "Please tell me about these dreams. They might mean something.

And they probably did. Her dreamed sounded a bit too much like mine to be a coincidence. Were we dreaming the same thing?

If so, why?

I never got time to think it over, because I heard a small chuckle above me. I glanced up and, once again, saw Tart and his knife. Pudding lunged at him, hoping for a hug, but he was too high up.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"Oh, just brought a friend" Tart said as he pulled a parasite alien out of nowhere. He tossed it, and the jellyfish-like thing landed in the nearby pond. Pudding as I ran over to the pond, and, glancing into it, found it was packed with fish.

"This parasite is ultra-powerful" Tart stuck his tongue out at us. "See if you can find it before it takes effect…. Foxy!"

"Ok, that does it!" I knew that Tart was just trying to bug me. But calling me by the name only Kish calls me by…

That just crosses the line.

"Mew Kinomi Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Pudding Metemorphosis!"

Pudding and I transformed into mew form, but while I dropped t my knees and started scanning the water, Pudding smiled up at Tart. "Pudding is glad she was able to see you today Tar-Tar na no da"

Tart blushed. "Wh-wh-what?!" Tart blinked and shook his head, apparently trying to get himself to focus. "H-hey, why aren't you scared?"

"Why should Pudding be scared na no da?"

I looked up at the two with mild curiosity. Tart looked a little ticked off. "You know, I should just kill you right now! Then I wouldn't have to deal with you!"

Pudding stared at him. "You can't kill Pudding na no da" She said seriously.

"Oh yah?!"

Pudding took a step towards Tart. I had never seen her like this before. "You can't kill Pudding because you don't want to na no da" I could see a light red blush rise in Tart's face as Pudding spoke. "You don't want to hurt Pudding na no da"

"Bu-..wha… Yes I want to kill you! You're annoying and you're creepy!"

"If you wanted to kill Pudding…" Pudding said slowly. There was a light blush in her face too. "Why didn't you yesterday?"

Tart's face turned redder than yesterday. I could almost hear his thoughts, something along the lines of, _Dang, she knows?! _"Shut up! Just shut up!" Tart yelled as he waved one hand in the direction of the pond. Instantly a GIGANTIC, sharp-toothed, spiny fish leapt out of the water. And those spines looked poisonous…

"Ribbon Kinomi Blaze!"

"Pudding Ring Inferno"

Both attacks struck at once. When the smoke cleared….

The monster had been defeated.

In 5 seconds.

Guess it wasn't that strong after all…

Tart was standing at the bank of the pond (on the ground for once), staring at the spot it was just a moment ago, his masterpiece had leapt into the air to kill us. I swear, his eye was twitching!

Pudding and I changed back into regular form, and Pudding walked over to Tart. I watched, curious to see what the monkey-girl would do…

"What do you want?!" Tart snapped at her. Pudding took one step closer. Tart took a step back. "So you defeated my parasite. So what? I'll kill you some other time"

"You won't kill Pudding na no da"

"You said that already! Why aren't you scared?! I have a knife right here, I can kill you right now!"

"But you won't na no da" Pudding said with confidence. She had been walked closer to him this entire time, and now she was only about half a foot away. "Pudding isn't scared because she trusts you. And you won't kill Pudding because you don't want to na no da" Pudding blushed, and her monkey ears and tail unfurled. I stared at her. She had never acted like this before… "And you….can't kill Pudding because….." Pudding paused, blushed deeper, then leaned in closer. Tart leaned back. But Pudding took a step inward and brushed her lips onto his.

Yah. She kissed him.

Let me just say that again:

SHE KISSED HIM.

PUDDING KISSED TART.

It took me a second to pick my jaw off the ground and register this. Pudding's eyes were closed, and her tail and ears were out, and her cheeks were red. Tart's cheeks were red too, but his eyes were open, and he looked to have been Superglued to the ground. Wanting to get away, but finding that his feet wouldn't move. But even as I watched, I saw his eyes slide closed, and leaned into her slightly.

Strange as this was, it was one of the most kawaii things I have ever seen. I'm guessing this was what they called 'sweet, young love' .

These guys were _made_ for each other. You could just see it in this singular moment when their lips met.

But then tart seemed to regain control of his senses, and pushed Pudding away. "Wha-wha-wha-whaaaaat the heh-heh-heeeeeck….?!" He stuttered as his face got so red, it looked more like a tomato than Tart.

"Tar-tar your getting flustered na no da!!" Pudding squealed as she jumped up and down with excitement. I was sort of glad the normal, uber-hyper was back. The serious version was a little strange.

Tart took a few steps back. Pudding cocked her head to one side, like she was confused as to why Tart was acting so embarrassed (even though her cheeks were still pink and her ears and tail were still out). I figured it was time to intervene before Tart actually turned into a tomato. "Pudding, we gotta go meet the girls at the arcade now, 'k?"

"Okie-dokie!" Pudding jogged over to me, and we started walking off. I was surprised she came so fast. She glanced over her shoulder at still-frozen tomato-Tart and waved cheerily to him "Bye-bye Tar-Tar na no da!"

Tart mumbled something and teleported away.

We walked for a second or so, Pudding smiling broadly.

"So….how was that?" I couldn't help smiling as I said this. For some strange reason, just watching them had left me with a little bubble of happiness inside.

"How was what na no da?" She asked slyly.

I gave her a long look that said 'you know what I mean'.

Pudding gave a tiny giggle, then jumped up with uncontainable excitement as she said "Pudding liked it na no da!!"

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I paused, panting. I was tired, thirsty, and very slightly dizzy. Dance Dance Revolution for a full hour will do that to me.

I had spent the past hour practically glued to the dance pad. Pudding had also taken a liking to it and so had, surprisingly, Mint. Not the fast songs, but the lower, but harder, ones like _un deux touis._ Most people don't know that the slow songs are actually harder…

So, as you probably guessed, the girls and I had been at the arcade for the past hour. Mint and Pudding played a bit with me, but mostly Mint stuck to winning tickets with Ichigo (and managing some candy and one stuffed animal each with all the tickets they collected), while Pudding took a great liking to a fireman game in the corner. Lettuce turned out to have a knack for Skeeball. Zakuro now revealed to us a particular talent that she had neglected to mention before: the prizegrabber. She won almost EVERY TIME. Lots of the younger kids started to ask her to wn things for them. Eventually it got to a point where they just handed her a token, pointed to what they wanted, and she's got it for them in five seconds flat.

Me? DDR.

"Any more?" I yelled to the arcade. This was my way of getting more competitors. For a second, no one stepped up. I had already pretty much killed off most of the competition. Then a familiar face decided to come strolling over.

"Hi Masami-san!" I waved enthusiastically. I was on a bit of a sugar rush…

Masami shrugged as way of greeting, something to show that she had recognized me from last Saturday. I noticed that it wasn't really her coming over, it was a girl with aqua hair that was more or less dragging her over. "Kinomi-chan, this is my friend Tasumi." Masami said to spare us the effort of an introduction.

"Hi!" Tasumi said cheerfully. She had on an ultra-short sky blue miniskirt, a silver tank top, and tennis shoes, her long hair pinned out of her face with a silver hair clip adored with a tiny butterfly.

A Lolita. Definitely a Lolita.

"Hello. Care to face me?" I said as means of DDR invitation, slipping another token into the slot. Tasumi nodded and stepped onto the second dance board. "What song?" she asked.

I shrugged "Your choice."

Tasumi nodded and flicked almost immediately to an American song called Dance Dance by someone named Fall Out Boys.

Never heard of them….i

"What difficulty?" She asked again.

"Your choice" I repeated. Already I could see a little line of new competitors, AKA fresh meat, forming beside the DDR machine.

She selected Easy. We simultaneously pressed start and the song began. Guitar-y, with a good guy singer but slightly corny words.

And then it sped up suddenly.

Tasumi was keeping up effortlessly, but I found myself falling behind.

Sheesh, what was up with me?! 'm the DDR champ of this arcade, yet this newbie was beating me on easy?!

Although as the song went on, I realized she wasn't a newbie at this. She must practice three times a week, just like me. She was newer than me, yah, but I could tell I had found a very competent competitor.

The song ended shortly after, like all DDR songs do. Yah, her score was higher than mine. I tuned and shook her hand. "Good game, Tasumi-san" I said, handing her a few tokens. Hey, I had plenty to spare, and she deserved it. "But your restricting yourself with easy. Try Standerd, 'k?"

"Ok!" She said cheerfully. We exchanged cell phone numbers (so we could call each other up for more dance contests in the future), and I turned to the line of people."Ok, who's next?"

A girl with orangey-brown hair and navy eyes stepped out. "Me" she said in a slight English accent. "I'm, uh, Brown Honey"

I chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing…" I said in Japanese, then switched to English. "Honey Brown, huh? I'm Kinomi Konichiwu. Song and difficulty?"

She blinked. "You speak English?" She asked.

"Yep. Song?"

She stepped onto the dance pad and ran through the songs in a cursory sort of way.

"Ever played before?"

"No…." She paused at one song. "They actually have _this?!_"

I looked at the song she had stopped on. "A techno version of it, yes. Very good choice. Difficulty?"

"Easy, I guess"

I pressed both start buttons, and the familiar beat started off. Honey was pretty good, for someone who's never played. And she seemed to have fun. When we finished, I gave her some tokens and turned back to the crowd. "Next!"

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I won't rehash all the details, but in just two hours, I had challenged practically everyone in this joint, including Pudding (her fav song is Candy), Mint (she beat me at all the slow songs), Masami (Beethoven's Fifth techno on Easy, she wasn't half bad), Tasumi (about 80 more times), Honey (28 more times. Exactly), Aiko (she likes Candy as well. And then she met Keiichiro (who Ryou had sent to check up on us) and the two ended up getting some pizza together…), someone named Bleuberri (SHE WAS GOOD AS HECK), Kaito-kun (he can play Dragon Blade on Expert), some tall dude named Nisiki (also good. He seemed to know that Bleuberri girl…), someone named Toffee, and this kinda hyper short girl who called herself Wind Crystal (is that even a real name?).

Anywhoo, none of this amounted to what had just happened.

Let's just say…….

I PLAYED HONEY PUNCH ON EXPERT ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND GOT 100 PERCENT!!

DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!!

Although, based on my recent nightmares, that might not be so good.

So now I stood at the sink in the bathroom, splashing water on my hot face, trying to calm down. Then I turned off the faucet, dried my face with a paper towel, and looked at myself in the mirror. The harsh lights cast yellowy shadows on my face, turning my ruddy completion sickly and emphasizing the dark rings under my eyes and the messyness of my hair. I sighed, dug through my pocket, and pulled out some of my Junior Mint chapstick (very good stuff). I applied some to my lips, then ran my fingers through my hair like a comb. Inwardly, I was proud of myself. I played Honey Punch, and I hadn't thought of Kish all day!

And then, of course, I immediately began thinking of him.

I sighed and leaned forward so my forehead rested on the cool glass of the mirror. Sheesh, I'm such an idiot…

But, then again, I'm even more of an idiot for not being true to myself on this.

Ok, I thought as I took a deep breath. No more lying to myself.

I loved Kish to the point that it was almost like obsession, and nothing was ever gonna change that.

If anyone had a problem with that, I didn't care. Even if it was wrong and illegal, even though he was my enemy, even though he loves Ichigo and not me, I don't care. I love who I love, and it won't do any good to tell myself otherwise.

_Nice way of putting that, Kinomi._

I blinked. There was that voice inside my head again. But why was the voice calling me by my name? Wasn't it me as well?

I tried an experiment: _Thank you. It feels good to love him_

Well it did! Really!

_Yah, I know. _The voice said back._ That's why I fought so hard to get you to buy that extra duruma. I was hoping it'd make you stop lying to yourself about this._

This was weird to the nth degree. What the heck was going on?!

_Who are you? _I thought slowly.

A low laugh. And then _Not you, if that's what you're wondering…_

Before I could ask anymore, Pudding burst in. "Kinomi-oneechan, we're gonna buy some milkshakes now na no da!!"

"Ok!" I ran out after her, following her to the concession stand. Lettuce held her new ticket-won Wii in her arms, watching most of the others fight over who was gonna pay as the cashier watched with mild curiosity.

"I'll pay!" I said cheerfully when I got within speaking range. I was in a good enough mood to do almost anything. The others nodded, and we approached the guy at the register. He was tall and rather cute, with blue eyes and patchy red hair that looked to be the result of a bad dye job.

"Hello. What would you like?" He asked a voice that suggested he was bored out of his mind even after the intressting little show we had just put on for him.

Everyone placed their orders, and the guy went in the back to get the food. Our orders (all in large cups):

Zakuro- One vanilla

Ichigo- One strawberry

Mint- One chocolate

Lettuce- One vanilla

Pudding-Two chocolate

Me- Two chocolate (although I really wanted three)

A few minutes later the dude came back out, balancing all eight milkshakes in his arms like Rachel Ray. He had a cute, cocky smile playing around his mouth now, though I'm not sure why. "Here ya go" He said as he set them on the counter. I handed him the money, and we each took what we ordered and trouped out the back door into the small park out back. It was the kind of place stupid-in-love couples and parents with little kids go. Springy, almost fake looking green grass, flowers everywhere, playground equipment that no one was using, seeing as the place was empty. We parked ourselves under a plum blossom tree and sat in a circle as usual. I raised my glass high. "To DDR!" I toasted without knoing why I was toasting.

"To DDR!" everyone chorused, following my example, clinking their cups with mine and taking a sip out of them. Ok, Zakuro didn't really even drink it she just sort of brought it near her mouth and then lowered it again.

"Tastes funny" Ichigo declared after a few more slurps at the straw. Lettuce nodded. "What do you think, Kinomi?" Ichigo stared at me. "Kinomi?"

I didn't answer. I was locked in a fierce who-can-drink-a-full-cup-of-this-fastest contest with Pudding, both of us practically inhaling the sweet chocolaty goodness. So what if it had a bittery, sour-ish taste over it? It was still a chocolate milkshake.

I finished mine about five seconds before Pudding and cheered. "All Right! I win!" I gave Pudding a high five. She giggled and hugged me. I felt good. Happy from the DDR and Puddings hug and refreshed from the milkshake and energized from the love for Kish I concealed in my heart, known only to that little voice in my head.

Then seconds later dying of thirst.

I untied Pudding's arms from around me and grabbed for the next cup. Beside me, Lettuce was taking a few tentative sips of hers, and Ichigo was slurping her strawberry one up as well. Zakuro and Mint were the only ones not drinking. Or, rather, Zakuro wasn't drinking and Mint was copying her as usual.

I downed my other milkshake quickly. Pudding groaned from nearby. "Pudding doesn't feel so good na no da…" She was bent over, clutching her head. "Brainfreeze?" I asked sympathetically. Pudding shrugged. "Want the rest na no da?" She asked as she offered me the rest of her almost-full second milkshake. I was about to decline, but then that overwhelming thirst kicked in again. What was with me?! I snatched it out of her hand and slurped it up. Then I grabbed Zakuro's milkshake and drank that one down too. I was beginning to scare myself a little. The more I drank, the stronger the burning in my throat got. When I finished Zakuro's I grabbed Mint's. Halfway through Mint's I stopped. My head felt light, the sky swirling around me. My throat burned like I had just swallowed hot sand, and my insides felt like someone had stuck a hot poker between my ribs. I slumped forward, clutching my stomach, the milkshake falling to spill its contents beside me. "W-What's going on!?" Letttuce asked in a panicky kind of voice. She and Ichigo looked pale, hands pressed lightly over aching stomachs. I heard a soft moan nearby and swiveled my head to see Pudding lying on the grass, chest visibly rising and falling in her efforts to breathe, empty cup held uselessly in one hand, a trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth. I tried to crawl over to her, but the second I tried to move a intense bolt of flames shot through my insides. I fell forward, coughing. Red splattered on the grass in front of me.

I was_ coughing up blood!_

I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. My vision was clouding up, spinning around. I coughed again, and more blood dripped out of my mouth. What had happened?!

"You drank four of those?" Came a voice above me. "That's kinda….stupid….."

With difficulty I looked up to see the concession stand guy floating a high above us.

Yah.

Floating.

Little fangs, big ears, floating.

He was an alien.

His hair was still red, but a more even, clear shade now. His clothing consisted of a sort of thick-strapped tank top that was about as high-cut as Kish's shirt and pants that ended just a bit over the knee, all in shades of pale lilac-purple. Nothing else. If I wasn't about to die at the moment, I'd think he was cute.

There were a few ripples in the air nearby, and a kid's voice called "Sorry to break up your fun, but we…." Tart's voice trailed off as he stared down at us. At Pudding. "What the heck….?!"

I'm guessing Tart, Pie, and Kish had shown up to try to kill us, but that new guy beat them to it.

I watched as Pie and Tart stared down at us, frozen, but Kish stared at the new guy, his eyes wide. He mouthed something I couldn't hear, and blinked hard, like he thought he was seeing things. Red hair guy looked just as confused. He floated a little nearer Kish, and I realized something.

They looked alike.

VERY alike.

New guy was only about an inch taller than Kish. Though their hair and eyes were different colors, their faces and general body type were the same.

The new alien gave a sort of half smile and said awkwardly "Hi, little brother"

LITTLE BROTHER?!

This was all happening just a liiitle to fast for my slow-functioning brain to comprehend. Red-hair guy, Kwin or whatever, was Kish's BROTHER?!

Can't my life be simple for just two seconds?

"Well, uh…" Kwin scratched the back of his head, looking for something to say. "The sky's really blue here on this planet, isn't it?" (random….)

"Kwin…" Kish didn't seem to hear him. He was staring down at us, his expression changing to match Tart's and Pie's. "Kwin…wha'd you do….?"

Kwin shrugged. "Just following orders"

"Orders from who?!"

A slight pause. And then Kwin answered "Kinu"

"WHAT?!"

But Kwin was already gone.

"Kish!" Tart called. I looked over to him to see him lying beside Pudding, holding her head up slightly. Her breathing was weaker. "Hey, Kish! Little help?"

I didn't see what happened next. There was another jolt of pain in my chest and I fell onto the grass. My vision was an odd mix of blurry, runny colors seen through half-closed eyes. The voices of people around me came in and out of focus like someone was playing with the volume control.

"—going on? Why—"

"—poison found on our planet. Highly toxic—"

"—creates overwhelming thirst for more—"

"—may have a little antidote but—"

"—Mew Aqua! We need—"

I forced my eyes open, and found their gaze directed at the fuzzy shapes of Ichigo and Kish. Ichigo was bent forward, panting, Kish kneeling in front of her. "Here, Koneko-chan, drink this, you'll—"

"I'm fine, Kish!" I saw Ichigo push him away. I tried to force my vision clearer so I could better. "You only have a little bit, right?"

Kish hesitated before answering. "Yes"

"Then give it to Kinomi or Pudding or something! They're, like, dying over there!"

Slowly, Kish looked from Ichigo over to me, his face a mask of perfect blank surprise. I'm not sure if he had seen me before or not.

Then his expression morphed to one of panic. "FOXY!!"

I saw him lunge for me, his urgent face swallowed up by the mist in my brain. My last though before the curtain of black velvet dropped down on me was _I've been passing out quite a lot lately, haven't I?_

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**I _told_ you it was confusing! In case you got lost, Kwin is Kish's brother (thought to be dead), but he's working with Kinu. Kwin disguised himself as the cashier at the conssesscion stand and poisoned the Mew's milkshakes with an extreamly toxic poison that, when drunk, results in an unquenchible thirst for more of it, untill you drink enough to kill you. The more you drink, the stronger the thirst.**

**Simple, right? (cheesy smile)**

**So, r&r as usual, an I shall update ASAP!!**


	8. My Secret Reveiled

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Hey there everyone! Happy New Year!!!

**This chapter's one of my favs. Not only do we get 2 new characters and a new attack for Kinomi, but I've been wanting to write that KishxKinomi part FOREVER!**

**So enjoy!**

**And BTW, even though I said t'Chi' in Kinomi's dream from the last chapter, it's really Kinu. I just havent had time to change it. So it's not Chi, it's Kinu!!!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Tokyo Mew Mew, Canada, or the word 'baka'**

**Claimer: I do own Kinomi, Ichirou, Mizu, the Emerald Knight, Yuri, and the word 'smoof'**

**WARNING: Major fluff, minimal to moderate sadness **

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Well, this was a was a pleasant change. Instead of being treated to the infinite blackness I was usually sentenced to, I was being treated to the same calm darkness I had experienced when I first became a Mew. Remember, with the floating fox?

I donno how I knew it was the same place. Something to do with the scent, I guess. I had smelled it when I first got merged with that fox. Like pine trees and freshly fallen snow on a cold winter morning, the kind you look for animal tracks and sled and make a snowman in, where the sun is so bright it bounces off the snow into your eyes and the air feels crisp and fresh. I have never been to Canada, but I assume that's what Canada smells like.

I glanced around. I held my hands in front of my face, just to remind myself they were still there. They were. Somehow, when I'm one of these dream states, I'm here without being here. Kinda like a ghost.

It never makes any sense to me.

Then again, since when had my life ever made sense?

I glanced around again. After a few seconds of searching, I finally spotted a break in the darkness. A tiny pinprick of light a little off to my left. I took a few steps toward it, when I realized it was getting bigger.

Wait, scratch that, it was moving towards me.

Very, very quickly.

I squinted at it and--

Oh my gosh it was the _fox!_

_The fox I had merged with!_

By now it had stopped only a few meters away. It was sitting, tail curled around paws. It wasn't a little fox made of pure light, it turns out. It only had a faint gold glow. Other than that it look like a regular fox, with normal auburn fur, white on the paws and tail tip and the inside of the ears. I took a tentative step towards it. "Hello" I said experimentally.

"Hi, Kinomi"

"What's your na--" I paused. "Wait, what?!"

"All I said was 'Hi, Kinomi'." The fox said.

THE FOX COULD TALK.

First I find out Kish has a brother working for Kinu, then I meet a talking fox in a dream world?

It's official:

I'm losing my mind....

"How can you talk?!?"

"What? You don't remember me?" The fox leapt fluidly into my arms. Her fur was warm, smelling faintly of a combination of the cinnamon rolls mom makes at Christmastime and Canada. "I'm your DNA spirit" There was something about her voice that sounded familiar...

"Ok, no one said anything about getting a _spirit..._"

"Because no one knew." The fox paused for a second, then changed the subject slightly. "My name is Yuri"

I finally remembered where I heard her voice before voice. "Y-You're the little voice in my head!!!"

Yuri chuckled. "Yah, I guess you could call me that..."

I stared at her. If she was a human, I'd place her around Aiko's age. She had this sort of 'responsible, kind mother by day; daring, fearless bar hopper by night' kind of air around her. Like a split personality, almost.

"So...." I paused, sorting through the jungle of questions I had for something light to say. "You, uh, know about Kish?"

"Kinomi, I'm part of your mind and spirit now. Duh I know about Kish."

Sarcastic too? Sheesh...

I immediately decided that she was a pretty cool person. Er, fox

"And, uh....."

"He's cute" Yuri smiled slyly. Or as slyly as a fox could smile. "You really love him, don't you?"

"Yah. I do." I blushed slightly. "Kinda like an obsession..."

"If it's that strong, I should let you go back to him now." Yuri said. The gold around her was glowing brighter, her actual outline disappearing as I watched.

"Hey, wait! Don't go! How did you make it so we can talk?!"

"It's not really hard." Yuri said. She was just a little fox-ghost now. "We can talk whenever you or I want. Just call me, 'k?"

"Wait!" But Yuri was gone. I closed my eyes hard, hoping that when I opened them, Yuri would be back to tell me the answers to the two-zillion other unasked questions I had. But when I tried to open my eyes, I found them to be zipped shut. Unable to open at , they were open just a little slit, but all I could see was blank whiteness. I was completely paralyzed. My entire body felt heavy and numb. But, slowly, I was regaining feeling. A cool breeze was blowing. Soft, fluttery things were falling across my face, someone's hand idly brushing them off. I had the vague feeling of someone holding me in their arms. I forced my eyes open to see who was holding me.

Kisshu.

He wasn't looking at me, rather staring off into the distance at who knows what, glazed-over eyes showing he was deep in thought about something. A plum blossom fell from the tree above us onto my nose, and Kish brushed it off without even looking at me.

First thought: _Wow he has really long eyelashes_

Second thought wasn't really a thought, more like a desire to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down beside me and kiss him. Then my third thought resisting that, that second thought telling the third one to go get a life, an argument ensuring between the logic and love sections of my brain, and it wasn't until the eighth or ninth thought that it really occurred to me:

I was _lying in his arms!!!_

Now I not only had to fight off a mental meltdown, but now also a major giggle fit and a nosebleed. A little sound came out of the back of my throat, a high little mewling sound like a, well, like a fox, and my face turned raspberry red. I guess my ears and tail would pop out if they weren't already out. I prayed Kish wouldn't notice.

He did.

He heard my little fox-squeal and glanced down at me. I shut my eyes fast, hoping he didn't notice I was awake. He made a little "Huh" sound. A pause. Then "Sheesh, is the fever back or something?" I assumed he said that cause of my red face...

Wait, what? Did I have a fever before?

I felt Kish's cool hand touch my forehead, like he was taking my temperature. Which he probably was. Of course, now he was probably sure I had a fever now because I blushed about as hot as the planet Venus and red as my hair when I felt his hand on my head. I opened my eyes just enough to see what he was doing.

What he turned out to be doing was leaning down to me in a slow, kinda cute way, like he was gonna kiss me.

OH SMOOF KISS ME?!?!?!?!?!?!

Inside my head I was letting off a high scream. Too close! He was way too close!

My eyes closed. He was absolutely WAY WAY TOO CLOSE now. There was a small pause, then:

"Helloooo? Foooooxy? Waaaaake uuuuuup...." He said in a half-exasperated, half-singsong voice. Ok, so maybe he wasn't gonna kiss me... "Are you awake?"

"Yes Kishy-kun..." OH SMOOF WHAT WAS I SAYING?!?!?!

Thankfully, Kish didn't hear me. My lips were so numb the words came as a sort of little "mmmmm" kinda sound. Jeez, I felt like I was drugged or something...

Kish stared at me, then sat back, sighed, and whispered to himself. "Ok, then....not awake yet..."

This was incredibly awkward, him sitting back staring at the sky, me lying in his arms. But there was this light, almost calm feeling in the air. Like this was a little embarrassing, but totally normal for us. But it WASN'T. He loved ICHIGO, not ME. He's my enemy! I shouldn't be doing this!!!

Oh, the heck with it. He's holding me now and he probably won't again, so why not enjoy myself?

I closed my eyes and smiled. It felt really good to be so close to him. I gave a happy little sigh and turned myself closer to him very (hard to do, since I was still pretty much paralyzed).

"Oh, your awake now?"

Smoof, there goes my cover. But, I guess it's time for this happy little charade to end. I opened my eyes and stared up at him.I decided my safest bet was probably to play half-asleep and a little confused. "Wh-what happened?"

"You were poisoned"

"Huh?"

"Those milkshakes..."

"Oh..." I was hard to say more than one word. My mouth felt like it had when I went to the dentist to get a stubborn loose tooth pulled and they made my mouth all numb and impossible to talk. Not pleasant then, not any more pleasant now. "How long?"

"How long were you out, you mean?" He asked. I nodded. Kish shrugged slightly. "Donno. Maybe two, three hours?"

"Three hours?!" I wanted to make my voice go to an almost-yell to express my surprise, but it wouldn't do that. "Have you been...holding me this whole time?"

"Um, yes"

I stared at him. "Why?"

"I had to keep your head up. The antidote works better that way"

"Ok..." Whatever the reason, he was holding me and I wasn't about stop him... "How are the others?"

"Pudding woke up an hour ago but she fell asleep again, Lettuce and Ichigo never passed out at all. They didn't drink all that much and we got the antidote to them really quick. Or rather, Pai did....."

I nodded. "How much of the Mew Aqua was used?"

Kish looked away. "All of Ichigo's, Mint's, and Zakuro's....."

"Oh......" I half-sighed. Lettuce had used hers the other day in a particularly painful battle with Kinu, and Pudding had used hers a little bit before I joined the Mew Mews. Meaning I was the only one with Mew Aqua left.

"Can you sit up?" He asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"I don't think so..." It was true. I was sore and stiff and practically drugged.

Plus I'll admit I was enjoying myself right now.....lying in his protective arms..... why ruin it?

But, then again, the longer I was awake, the more I realized that my stiffness and soreness may be less from the poison and more from the lying-around-for-three-hours thing. "Um, actually, yah I can sit up"

Kish lifted me up into a more sitting-like position, then pushed away from me. "You sure?"

"Yah, yah. I'm sure." I glanced around. Pudding was sleeping with her head on a slightly blushing Tart's shoulder. Ichigo was sitting nearby, Pie was talking to Lettuce and Mint was talking to Zakuro.

All's normal in Tokyo.

Kish crossed over to Ichigo, walked up behind her, and put his hands gently on the sides of her face, tilting it upwards to she was forced to look him in the eye. "There. I saved your friend. Happy?"

"Kish, let go of me"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Answer me"

"Ok, thank you for saving Kinomi" Ichigo tried to squirm away, but Kish held too tight. "Now let go!"

"First kiss me"

"WHAT?!?!? NO!!!!!!!!!!!"  
"Will you kiss me if I can guess what color your panties are?"

"WHAT?!??!!!?!??!!??!!?!?!?!??!!?!??!!??!?!!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!" Was everyone in the vicinity's reaction. Ichigo was the only one who actually spoke (and that's what she said), but everyone's heads snapped up to look at them. Even Pudding woke up with a small squeak of "Na no da?"

A long pause. "Well, um...." Ichigo looked incredibly uncomfortable. After a lot of stuttering, she finally said. "Well....well... ok. Yah." If he actually guesses it, it would be a miracle..."Is it...." Kish fake-thought for a second. "White with pink dots and a pink ribbon around the top?"

Miracles really do happen....

There was another long pause as Ichigo looked stunned. "How did you know...?"

Kish took this as an opportunity to kiss her. Hard.

Suddenly about 82 percent of my self-control was focused on resisting the temptation to run at them and rip Kish away from her, while the other 18 percent was resisting imagining myself in Ichigo's place.

The kiss stretched on. No one stopped it. I think they were contemplating how Kish knew what kind of underwear Ichigo was wearing. I would be if I wasn't so preoccupied right now. Ichigo was trying to move away, but Kish wouldn't let her. He gave one of those soft little middle-of-a-really-good-kiss moans, but something about it was forced. I swear, he was _Frenching_ her!!!!!!

All of a sudden my wish to be Ichigo right now had upped about seven million...

Suddenly someone grabbed me and dragged me high into the air. It was Pie, holding Tart's knife to my throat. Kish glanced up to see what was going on, and Ichigo took that as an opportunity to slap him (hard) and push him away.

"Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you" Pie hissed in my ear as I struggled to get away.

"Then why are holding a knife to my throat?!" I whispered back urgently.

"It was the fastest way to make those two stop"

"Oh... ok... that makes sense...." Small pause. "Why did you save us?"

"You saved Kish's life and spared Tart's. Now we're even"

"Oh" That made a lot of sense. "Thank you"

"Sure...."

"Um...... Can you put me down now?"

For answer, Pie just let go of me and let me fall to the ground.

One word: Owch

I picked myself off the ground to see Tart push Pudding off his shoulder,and Pie land on the ground beside him. Ichigo (and everyone else) was staring at Kish, still a little stunned. "H-How did you know......?"

"Oh, it was really simple. I looked in your underwear drawer about a week ago" Kish said, sounding like a innocent little kid who had no clue that what he was doing was wrong. "ALL your panties are white with pink dots and a pink ribbon around the top"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Ichigo aimed a punch at him, but he teleleported away with the other two aliens before she could hit him. Ichigo looked around frantically, still fuming. "Is he gone now? He better be! If he's still here I'm gonna hit him so hard..."

"He's gone, Ichigo" Mint reassured, but I wasn't so sure. Some weird fox-instinct was telling me something was up.

Then I felt a little tickle running down from the base of my neck, like a finger tracing my down my spine and creating a pleasant tickle that made my fox ears and tail pop out and a small squeal escape my lips. But before I could really register it my karate instinct kicked in, and my foot lifted itself off the ground in a roundhouse kick that was so hard I actually hear and feel something crack as my sneaker slammed into his face. When my mind caught up to what was going on and I saw what had happened.....

Kish was lying on the ground a few yards away.

Blood splattered all down his front.

_OH MY GOSH I KILLED HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

My breathing sped up, vision slurring slightly. "Oh no....." I whispered to myself. "Oh no no no no no NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Anyone out there know what it feels like to murder someone you love? Anyone at all? Some random guy in the back?

Yah. I thought not.

So you don't know how my heart was on the verge of collapsing into a little pile of shredded tiny fibers of complete and total sadness.....

Until Kish sat up and gave his head a tiny shake. Dead people don't sit up. Meaning he was alive.

I nearly cheered. He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. I can't tell you how happy I am that he wasn't dead.

He looked at me, and I saw where all that blood was coming from: his nose. I had broken his nose.

He stared at me for a long time. Ok, not really a long time. More like a quarter of a millisecond, but on that single heartbeat that our eyes met time seemed to slow down. My sapphire eyes were locked with Kish's passionate amber ones. He gave me a tiny smile through the blood, like he was saying _You're pretty tough. I like that. _

Then he teleported away.

I sunk onto my knees, breathing hard, shaking slightly.

"Kinomi-oneechan na no da?!" Pudding shrieked, running over. "Are you ok, na no da??!"

A tiny sound escaped my throat. My lips pursed as I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't.

I started to laugh.

A tiny giggle at first. Then full-out,so-hard-my-stomach-hurts laughter.

"What's so funny?" Mint called, a little surprised by my very strange reaction.

"I _broke_ his_ nose_" I said between chuckles. What Mint didn't get was that this was total relief laughter. There's a big big and very very important gap between death and a broken nose, if you didn't notice. After thinking I had just killed him, finding that I just broke his nose was _nothing_. So insignificant it was almost funny.

I didn't stop laughing for a long time. And even on my way home I was still giggling. When I got to my room I tossed myself on my bed, massaged the corners of my mouth out of the permanent smile I had worked them into, and let my mind jump back to that quarter millisecond our eyes had met. As soon as his catlike eyes locked onto mine, I felt something shift in my chest.

Something warm, like a little flame ignited there.

Something lurching, like a skipped heartbeat.

Something very mildly and slightly evil. A little secret all my own.

I giggled into my pillow. This was the best feeling ever.

Why is it that the more tabooed the passion, the sweeter it is?

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

I was soooo mad at Ryou right now. It's Sunday, we're all tired, only Mint and I are free, and that jerk _still _makes us come in for work. And for what? A day of cleaning. Joy....

And, no offence to the cuteness, but after a while the squeals of Angel and Rose playing aerial tag get annoying after a while....

I was currently giving every table in the vicinity a good scrubbing. Which also included scraping the gum off the underside. Yuck. Mint, on the other hand, was cleaning all the windows. Glancing over at her, I kept wondering how someone can manage to look so classy even when your fingers are shriveled from prolonged exposure to water and you've got soap suds running from wrist to elbow.

I took a sip of my drink, which was just some tepid hot chocolate, and started on a new table. Believe it or not, I was off milkshakes for a while. That poison was enough to scare me away from those things for a month.

Ok, maybe only a week...

Either way, I was pretty ticked at Ryou. Pudding was at the park doing acrobatics, Lettuce was out of town for the day, Ichigo was at the dentist, Zakuro was dong a modeling shoot, the café was closed because it was Sunday, and that stupid idiot makes us come in, put on our frilly poofy Mew-eating doilies (meaning our work uniforms), and come in for a day of cleaning.

"I'm so ticked at Ryou..." I finally said.

"Yep..." Mint said, not paying attention.

"Seriously, he's an idiot."

"Yep..."

"Do you like my brother?"

"Yep....." Mint blinked at looked up at me. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

There was an extremely long pause as I continued to clean, and Mint decided it was tea time and boiled herself a pot of what she called 'Special Café Mew Mew Orange Tea'. She drinks it so much it's been added to the menu under the name of Mint's Special Orange Tea. We also have Lettuce's Double-Berry Crepes, Pudding's Mount Fiji Banana Split (where the banana is practically buried in whipped cream), Ichigo's Strawberry Sampler (a sampling of Café Mew Mew's finest strawberry treats), Zakuro's Velvet Black Tie Cake, and Kinomi's Triple Dark Chocolate Shake....

So what if I have the menu memorized? I get bored.

I wondered what Kish would like... He seems to me like he'd like chocolate. Or peppermint. Maybe I could convince the others to add a mint chocolate milkshake to the menu. Maybe I could take him here. Maybe we could come here together for a milkshake, get one glass with two straws...

And as long as I'm dreaming, I'd like an all-expenses paid trip to an onsen and a personal home DDR...

I wrung out my washcloth and shook my precious little coin out of my shoe. I tossed into the bucket, seeing it splash into the soapy liquid, and watched the pattens of foam float across the top. And there it was again. Heart-K-X.

I threw the washcloth into the bucket, splashing the bubbles all out of order and accidentally soaking Angel, who was flying by at the time. What drove me nuts is that I now knew what that stupid sign meant.

The heart meant I'd fall in love.

The K meant it was with Kish.

The X meant he wouldn't love me back...

Only problem with that was, if I already knew that...

Why did it keep showing up? Was there some meaning I was missing or something?

"Kinomi..." Mint suddenly said, very seriously, interrupting my thoughts. "Who do you like?"

Blink. Second blink. Third blink. "Why do you ask?"

"It's been driving everyone crazy. No matter what time of day, we always see you daydreaming about him! So who is he?"

Smoof...

Mint stared at me, then smiled slyly. "I know who it is.....

Double smoof.

"It's someone we know"

Oh smoof oh smoof oh smoof not good.....

"His name starts with a K...."

I turned into a fox.

Mint glanced down at me. "What the...?!"

"Mint! A little help, please?!" I tried to yell, but it came out as a series of little yips. Mint bent down so her head was only a little higher than mine. "This is not good...." Mint said.

"Change me back!" I yipped again frantically. But of course she couldn't understand me...

"Uh, um.... well, we gotta change you back...." Mint was panicking a little. At least we were both thinking the same thing. "But the only way to do that is...."

We stared at each other. Mint's eyes widened. "No. Way."

I took a step back. Kiss MINT?!

"Ok, ok, uh..." Mint glanced around frantically, like she was checking to see if there were any other guys who could kiss me and change me back. Unfortunently, there were none... "Ok, uh, I'll turn you back, but you gotta promise me something"

I nodded, hoping she'd take that to mean 'go on...'

"When your back to normal, you gotta tell me who you like"

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?

I glanced around, thinking hard. Dare I do this? It probably wasn't a good idea. I mean, this is Mint we're talking about. Keiicharo, I would do. Ichirou, I've done before. Kish, definetly. Ryou, yah. Pie, if every other guy in the universe was dead.

But not Mint.

Not Mint or Ichigo or Lettuce or Zakuro (Pudding, maybe yes, cuz she's my sister and it's not really that odd in a desprit situation).

But then again, there's no telling how long it's gonna take for a guy to get here....

But still, tell Mint my biggest secret EVER?!?!?!??!!!?!?!!!??!?!?!

NOT WORTH IT.

But, still...... I kinda would like to NOT remain a fox forever.......

Slowly, I nodded.

"Promise you'll tell?"

I nodded again. Mint nodded back, took a second to brace herself, and leaned in closer......

We both jumped about five feet away from each other as soon as I turned back into human. She wiped her mouth on the back of hand. "We speak of that to no one"

"Agreed" I said, wiping off my mouth, too. Mint sat back down at her table and took a sip of her tea. "So...."

"So what?" I asked. I was still a little freaked out, but she seemed back to her cool, classy self already.

"So I did my half." she said, refilling her teacup. "Now you do yours. Tell me who you like""And if I don't.....?"

"I turn you back into a fox and don't turn you back."

"How?"

Mint gave me a sly smile. "I have my ways"

The little birdie drives a hard bargen.....

And a Konichiwu never goes back on her word, so.....

"Ok...." I said, defeated. I sunk into a chair and tried to act casual as I sipped my drink. "Well, you were right. His name does start with a K....."

"So it really is _Keiicharo?!?!?!?!!?!?"_

I stared at her. "What? No way! Why would you think that?"

Min shook her head. "I don't think that. I was gonna say it was Keiicharo before because I thought it would make you say who it really was."

"Oh, ok.... well it's not Keiichiro"

"Then....." Mint thought for a second. "Kaito-san?"

"Nope...." I said. I felt still, almost tense as she guessed. Sooner or later she would get it right....

"Then I donno...."

Or maybe she wouldn't. "C'mon, Mint! It's simple! Someone we both know whose name starts with a K"

"I can think of a few but they don't make any sense! Just tell me, Kinomi!"

"Ok, ok...." I took a deep breath. This was it. I actually almost wanted to tell her, just to get this over with. Sooner or later they would find out anyways....

.......and maybe she'd be able to give some advice......

"Kisshu"

Mint nearly choked on her tea. "G-Gomen... "She said, setting down her cup shakily back in its little saucer. "I must have misheard you. I thought you said that you loved Kisshu"

"I do."

Mint stared at me. "WHAT?!?"

"Yes. " I forced myself to say. "I'm in love with Kish. Insanely in love...."

Mint grabbed my by the shoulders. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?!? He's...... he's......."

"A freaky alien who's not even my species and my enemy who loves Ichigo?" I guessed.

"YES!!!!!!!!!"

"I don't care."

"All these guys you have all around you and you... you chose HIM?!?!?"

"So what if I did?" I said cooly, not meeting her eyes. "A mean, YOU'RE in love with my brother, so why can't I...." I broke off. "Oh no....."

As soon as I mentioned that Mint was in love with Ichirou, Mint....

Well, let's just say that sitting on the floor in front of me was a tiny little blue bird.

"Ohhhh smoof......" I scooped up the bird. "I'm so sorry, Mint...."

For answer, she pecked hard at my hand.

"Ow!" I shrieked, shaking her off. She was ticked, and I didn't blame her. I saw her fly out the window, and I stared after her, sucking on my bleeding fingers and.....

Oh smoof.

"Mint!!!!" I yelled, running out the café doors after her. "Come back!!!!'

A tiny blue bird could easy get lost and more than likely killed in crowded, busy Tokyo.

I glanced around and spotted her flying off. I chased after her, catching up quickly. I jumped up to catch her, and nearly succeeded, tips of my fingers brushing her long tail feathers. _This is gonna be easy _I thought.

If 'easy' is a full sprint after her halfway across Tokyo, yah it was plenty easy. I'm not sure how much time elapsed before I crashed into someone on the street.

"Jeez, Kinomi, what's the rush?" asked Ichigo, back from the dentist and walking back to Café Mew Mew but stopped the half-crazy fox marathon runner.

"AFTER HER!!!!!" I yelled to Ichigo, springing up and pointing to the flying Ultramarine Lorikeet.

"Why!?"

"THAT'S MINT!!!!!!"

Ichigo was running after me, trying to keep up. "She turned into a bird?!"

"Yep!!!"

Ah! I was directly below her. This is the moment I was waiting for. I knelt down slightly, feet flat to the ground, knees bent. Then I sprang up, my powerful legs propelling me high into the air. My hand reached out and grabbed onto something feathery. I landed back on the concrete, turning as I landed to face Ichigo.

Mint was pecking at my hands, making them bleed, but I didn't care. I held her up between Ichigo and me. We stared at her, watching her struggle and chirp, and glanced back at each other, the same thought crossing our minds.

_How do you kiss a bird?_

"Hello, Kinomi!" Said a polite voice. I glanced over to see Masaya and Ichirou walking out of the building we had ended up in front of. Ichigo glomped Masaya, purring happily, but Ichirou walked over to me, staring at the now-calm bird I clutched in my hands. "Who's this?"

"Mint" I said, noticing that Mint was calm now, no longer struggling.

"Mint can turn into a bird?" Ichirou asked, picking her gently out of my hands.

"Just as I can turn into a fox. The way to turn her back is the same, too." I said, remembering the incident last Tuesday when Ichirou startled me during a Kish-flavored daydream and I turned into a fox and Ichirou had to turn me back. That got us some freaky questions from Joey.....

Ichirou raised his eyebrows. "Ok, then....." He said softly. He seemed to be readying himself for something.

And then he brought her close and kissed her.

I'm not sure if it was the beak or the forehead or what, but a second later she was a human.

Ichirou didn't stop kissing her.

I didn't know whether to feel awkward or happy.

I turned away from them to give them some privacy. Turns out the building we ended up in front of was an art gallery, and there were paintings displayed in front of the windows, inviting patrons in.

Every single one was painted by Joey.

The cool thing about Joey is that his paintings reflect everything that goes on in my house. Whether he knows about it or not. I mean, just look him in the eyes. He'll stare at you for a few seconds, then can guarantee he'll ask if you can model for a painting. The chapters of our life are seen though our eyes, and he doesn't know it but he picks up on them and puts them in his paintings. And since we're the ones he sees most, most of the pictures are of Pudding, my parents, me, Ichirou, or Pudding's siblings. His most recent painting of me is myself in a red and white sailor-style school uniform, fox ears and tail, angel wings, holding a red cupid-style bow and arrow. I stared at that picture, displayed out in public right where everyone can see it. A little embarrassing....

"Didn't Joey-san paint this?" Masaya asked. He and Ichigo had also sought refuge from Mint's and Ichirou's fluffy scene in the paintings. Specifically, the painting I was standing in front of.

I nodded. "Yep"

"who's Joey-san?" Ichigo asked. She was clinging onto Masaya's arm, looking at a nearby portrait of a girl and boy with angel wings. Me and Ichirou.

"My dad's American cousin. He lives at my house"

Ichigo stared at me. "With Pudding and her siblings too?!"

"Yep"

Ichigo looked back to the painting. "That must be pretty chaotic...."

I nodded. "It is. But I like it, so...."

"Ok, your back to normal now" I heard Ichirou say behind me. I turned to see him smiling at Mint, hands gripping her upper arms and his bright green eyes locked with her shy, slightly embarrassed deep blue ones. He took a step back, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks too. Masaya walked over beside him, and Ichirou gave Mint a little wave before the two boys set off for home again. I could see even from here that Masaya was gonna interrogate Ichirou on that kiss all the way.

I stepped over to Mint. She appeared to have lapsed into a state of shock. I waved a hand in front of her face to see if she was conscious. "Hellooooo? Earth to Mint?"

Mint's lips moved, but I didn't hear what she said. "Nani?" I asked, and she repeated it without thinking.

"That was awesome......"

I fought back the desire to laugh and nodded. "I bet it was." I could hear Ichigo giggling over somewhere to my left. Mint broke out of her trance long enogh to shoot her a look that screamed 'Shut up, baka', and then glanced over to me. "You don't mind?" She asked softly.

"Mind? I love it" I couldn't hold back a laugh now. "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to set you two up?!"

Mint stared at me for a long time. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "He rants on and on about you when your not around" I said "He's just and amazing actor and never shows it when you're around. You two are perfect toge–" the ground started shaking mid-sentence, cutting me off.

"Earthquake!" Ichigo shouted unnecessarily, clinging to a wall. Mint grabbed onto my arm for balance and we both fell face first into the concrete. The ground was rippling so much it was making me seasick. The concrete cracked in front of us, and, somehow, a water pipe burst its way up, drenching us all.

As soon as we were soaked, the shaking stopped. I glanced over to Mint, dizzy. "Is it over yet?"

I blinked. Mint wasn't beside me. I heard her shrieking somewhere above me and glanced up, wondering how the heck she got up there...

Mint was a few yards above me, struggling to free herself from the arms of Mizu, the short, aqua-haired alien who I suspected had a crush on Mint. I guess my suspicions were correct....

"That was unexpected...." Mizu said to himself as he surveyed the flooded street. He shrugged and looked at Mint again. "Hey."

"LEMME GO, PERV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Whatcha doin' here?" He said, completely ignoring her. He was trying to act cool, but in my opinion he sounded more like a nerd. But you could tell he didn't know what he was doing. The kid couldn't be any older than twelve. Probably eleven, actually.

"PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!"

"Jeez you're loud....."

"I SAID PUT ME DOWN OR--" Mint tried to yell again, but she was silenced by Mizu's finger on her lips. "Hey.... shut up, ok? Don't wear out your beautiful voice"

I stood up unsteadily. "Just put her down, 'k?" I said calmly. I was liking this kid.... "Birds like her don't like to be caged up"

"Fine...." Mizu sighed, then lowered Mint gently to the ground. She snatched herself away from him and pulled out her Mew pendant. "YOU ARE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She transformed, and Ichigo and I followed. Alien means battle, even if that alien is despite little Mizu who only seems to want to hit on Mint. It's a shame if you ask me. If I weren't such a Mint/Ichirou fan, I'd think they make a good couple.

As soon as I had achieved Mew form, I looked at again at Mizu. He was staring at Mint intensely, as if just by looking at her she would suddenly transfer all the affection she had placed on Ichirou over to him.

You're fighting a losing battle, kid. She's already sold.

Mint glared at him. "Why are you here?"

Mizu paused, apperently trying to remember why he had come, and then said quickly "To kill you all, of course!"

Yep, that sounds more or less normal. "Ok, sure thing" I said casually. Ichigo and Mint stared at me, but I continued. "Just how exactly do you plan to do this?"

"Like this!" He said energetily, lifting his hand into the air. Instantly the water that soaked us three turned to ice.

Ichigo and Mint looked to be in actual physical pain from the sudden cold, but it didn't really bug me all that much. Canadian fox thing, I guess...

My eyes shifted up to Mizu again. "I'm sorry, little birdie..." He said apoligecly to Mint. "I promise I won't kill you" He continued, turning away from her and taking control of the water still gushing from the broken pipe. Millions of little droplets rose into the air around him, like raindrops frozen in time. 'Frozen' was definetly the right way to describe them because a second later every drop of water froze into little shards of ice that glittered in the sunlight, each one sharp to the point that you could probably stab someone right through if you found a piece long enough. Uh-oh....

Mizu turned back to us. "Sorry about this" He said again, arranging the ice in the air so it was positioned to strike Ichigo and me from all angles. "I don't think this'll hurt too much...."

The words hang in the air for a second, then he struck.

This was possibly the worst situation I've ever been in. Frozen to the ground, unable to summon my Kinomi Prism, with thousands of lethal razer-sharp ice shards coming at me from all sides. No WAY I'm gonna be able to live through this.

I closed my eyes tight and waited for the pain. _Goodbye Kish, I love you.... _I thought. If I was gonna die, at least I was gonna die thinking about him.....

There was a lot of crashing noises, like million baseballs hitting through a million glass windows all at the same time. Then complete silence.....

Wow . Mizu was right, it didn't hurt at all. I had expected at least a second's worth of pain but I didn't feel anything. And shouldn't I be free from the ice now? Floating? Ghost? Angel? Meeting some form of higher power? Something other than just standing her like a baka frozen to the ground?!?

"Who the heck are you?!?!??!?!?!" I heard a familiar voice yell. Either Mizu had somehow killed himself as well and ended up where I was, or I was still among the living.....

"Kinomi?" A voice said. It was male, both familiar and different at the same time. I tried to open my eyes, but found they had frozen shut. "I can't see..." I said, forcing the words out from between my teeth. The guy seemed the understand and rubbed my face gently, the ice melting away into water at his touch. I took this opportunity to take in his scent. Fresh and green and earthy. Unfamiliar, but something about it tugged at the edge of my memory. I KNEW this scent. From somewhere. I didn't know where but...

I finally forced my eyes open. The guy smiled at me. He was a few inches taller than I was, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail like Keiicharo. He was wearing this robe-looking-kinda-dress....thing with shorts on underneath and boots, all in dark emerald green. His eyes were green too, and his skintone was a light tan. the think that struck me most about him where his ears. they were long and pointy just like the aliens. Did that me mean this guy was our enemy? If he was why the heck was he helping us?

His hands had moved away from my face the thaw out my arms. There was a kind of affection to the way he touched me. Not like an 'I love you' kinda thing, but protective. Caring, Someone who wanted to keep me safe no matter what.

JEEZ WHERE DID I KNOW THIS GUY FROM?!?!??!!?!?

This was gonna drive me nuts until I figured it out....

"Who are you?" I started to ask, but he had gone. I glanced around and saw that he was busy unfreezing Mint, but the look he gave her was one of pure love. Further off another guy was melting Ichigo with the same look in his eyes. His hair and outfit were the same style as green guy, but his hair was blond and his clothes and eyes were blue. His skin was much paler than the green guy's, but both had the same pointy ears.

I forced my legs to move. The ground around was littered in mini ice crystals, broken fragments of the shards meant to kill us. So these guys had saved us?

How the heck......?

"This is undoubtedly the strangest thing I've ever seen......" Mizu said blankly, staring down at us.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"These idiots just showed up with swords and made some kinda shield over you guys...."

Once again: Who the heck were these guys, other than my new best friends?

"Kinomi!" Blue guy called. "Are you alright?"

"Fine!" How the heck did he know my name? "Thank you for saving us"

"Um, hello?" Mizu called, a little annoyed that his master plan had been destroyed. Everyone looked up at him, and he continued.

"If I don't kill you all, Kinu's gonna be ticked." As he spoke, the remaining ice melted and trickled into a whirlpool below him. "If Kinu's mad, well..... trust me. You don't wanna see her mad. I still get nightmares from the last time......"

The water was rising up, twisting, expanding, dividing, morphing into something big. I took a step backwards, tripped and fell flat on my rear. I pushed myself back even more. the surface of the water was starting to crystalize.

"So I gotta kill you now" Mizu said casually. He shrugged. "Nothing personal"

The little puddle of water had transformed into what looked like a huge army of giant ice wolves. Can't the bad guys ever attack with something a little more subtle?

"Oops..." Mizu said to himself. "I think I got too carried away...." He shrugged again. "Whatever. ATTACK!!!!" He shouted the last word, and instantly the largest ice wolf opened it's mouth and let loose another volley of ice shards. I rolled out of the way quickly. "Kinomi Prism!" I shouted, and my weapon fell into my hand. I held it out and summoned the breathe to attack it, when something sharp sliced across the back of my neck. I twisted my head around to see what had me, and found a much another ice wolf rearing up behind me. It fired the icicles at me again, but before I could react something tackled me out of the way.

I opened my eyes to see it was the guy in green.

"Who are you?!" I whispered urgently. "What do you want?!"

"I'm the Emerald Knight" He said calmly. "I'm going to protect you and Mint"

I blinked. "Why?"

He didn't answer.

I tried again. "What about Ichigo?"

"The Blue Knight will protect her"

"Who's he?"

The Emerald Knight smiled and pushed himself off me. "The guy in the blue. Duh."

......I know I've seen this guy before somewhere. I just know it.....

We might've talked longer, but the ice wolf took a swing at us with it's tail and we had to dodge. I took aim at the annoying thing with my weapon. "Ribbon Kinomi Blaze!"

The bolt of fire lashed out at the ice monster, melting it instantly. I punched the air. "YES!!!"

And then it reformed.

It took advantage of my momentary surprise to spring at me. I looked up in time to see it right over me, claws extended. My eyes closed involitary.

I was aware of sudden warmth beside me. I opened my eyes again to find the Emerald Knight, arm wrapped around me protectively. The ice wolf was suspended above us, claws still ready, impaled on the Emerald Knight's long sword. _Where the heck did he get that?_

I turned to him, but he was already gone off to help Mint, and I still had to keep my attention on the now-surrounding pack of wolves.

"Ribbon Kinomi Blaze!" I shouted, swerving my weapon around in a circle, the attack melting the surrounding ice monsters on contact. But as soon as they had been destroyed, they just reformed again. This was going to be endless. I glanced down at my weapon, wondering how long it would hold up. I mean, it was just a big crystal. Could it crack? Break?

Break.....

My mind was suddenly on overdrive. It was crystal. Meaning it could break. It also shot out fire. If it broke, then...

This was probably the most stupid plan I had ever thought of, but we had already had a miracle today. Why not try for two?

My daze was broken by the Emerald Knight tackling me out of the way of the ice wolves' next wave of attacks. "Can't you keep out of trouble for longer than two--"

"I have a plan!" I interrupted.

The Emerald Knight gave me a long stare. "What?"

"I have a plan! "I repeated quickly. I whispered my plan to him, but all that netted me was another long stare. "That's not gonna work."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you have any other ideas!?" When the Emerald Knight didn't answer, I went on. "We gotta fill the others in"

The Emerald Knight nodded once and ran off to tell Mint. I made my way over to Ichigo and the Blue Knight, fighting side-by-side, and informed them of my master plan. They agreed with the Emerald Knight; the plan was incredible stupid, but it was our best shot.

We started immediately. The Blue Knight and Ichigo would hold off the ice wolves, but that was just a distraction. While those two dealt with the wolves, Mint, the Emerald Knight, and I went for Mizu.

We positioned ourselves around him in a sort of triangle, fending off a few wolves on the way to keep him from getting too suspicious.

I quickly melted the two monsters facing me and glanced at Mizu. He was turned away from me, reforming some ice wolves the Emerald Knight had just shattered. This was my chance.

"Mint! Now!" I yelled, throwing my weapon as hard as I could over Mizu's head.

Mint was already taking aim. "Ribbon...." she began, waiting until the crystal was practically right on top of her "Mint Echo!"

Her attack streaked through the air and collided with my weapon with a sort of crunching sound, sending it back the other direction. I could see the network of newly-created cracks glittering across it.

"Emerald Knight!" I cued, watching Mizu's confused expression. the Emerald Knight was aiming his sword at my flying weapon.

Time slowed for a second. I watched my crystal's slow arc across the sky, fractures glittering in the sunlight, the Emerald Knight following it's progress with the tip of his sword. The weapon was now right over Mizu's head. I crossed my fingers. _Please work...._

"Emerald Lightning Blade!" The Emerald Knight yelled. A bolt of blinding green lightning burst out the tip of his sword, so bright I had to shield my eyes. There was a huge shattering sound as it struck the crystal, I was Mizu whip his arms over his head as a shield, then everyone had to duck out of the way of the flying shards of crystal.

I heard a shriek as the pieces sliced at someone, but everything just seemed to dodge around me. A second passed in silence. I think even the wolves were surprised.

"Why the heck did you do that?" Mizu asked incredulously. His arms were sliced all across, and there was blood dripping from a cut down his cheek. "You just destroyed your own weapon, stupid...."

I honestly wasn't paying an ounce of attention to him. I was staring at the shards now stuck halfway into the ground. Most were pointing in Mizu's general direction. I focused on one close by my foot that was pointing off in some random direction. _Aim right, stupid shard...._

Instantly, the shard shifted position to point to Mizu.

I blinked. Then smiled. _Let me guess.... my weapon is controlled by my DNA spirit?_

_Yep. _

_Thanks, Yuri._

_No problem. _I could hear the smile in Yuri's voice.

I looked back up at Mizu, who was looking down at me in confusion. "You think that was stupid?." I asked.

"Incredibly so...."

"Why?

"How the heck do you expect to fight without a weapon?"

"Like this" I smirked. I could feel the subtle shift in the earth as the as every shard locked on Mizu. "Ribbon...."

Mizu's eyes widened. "What the....?"

"KINOMI BLAZE!!!"

You've all seen my regular attack. A single bolt of iridescent, scorching fire. That's what happened now....

Times about a billion.

Every single shard sent out a burst of flames at Mizu. The poor kid didn't have time to react. Each bolt of fire hit him all at once. Mizu screamed like he was on fire. Which, technically, he was.

I'm not sure how long he was stuck like that. The fire had paralyzed him so he just hung there in the air, caught in agony, getting blasted by the iridescent flames.

Poor kid...

The crystals all suddenly went dim. Mizu hung there in the air for a few seconds, then dropped to the ground.

I took a few steps forward. Mizu's body was covered in burn marks. I saw him open his eyes a slit. Even just that looked like it cost him half of his consciousness.

"I'm sorry..." I mouthed. I hadn't wanted to hurt the kid this badly.

He didn't pay me any attention. His eyes were all for Mint, nestled safe in the Emerald Knight's protective arms. His lips formed her name, and he tried to push himself up, but this proved too much for him. He gave a gasp of pain and fell back down again, eyes closed tight. Holding back tears, I think. _I'm really sorry about this, kid...._

Mizu opened his eyes again, but they didn't focus. I could see him trying hard to concentrate, and a second later he vanished in a ripple of air.

I took a deep breath and lifted my hand into the air, palm open. "Kinomi Reform" I whispered, and the shards of crystal leap back to my hand and formed my weapon again. I brought my arm back down and looked around. Ichigo seemed to be trying to get her mind around what just happened, but Mint punched the air in celebration. "We did it!"

The Blue Knight was talking quietly to the Emerald Knight nearby. I saw the Emerald Knight shake his head and take a few steps back. He looked around frantically, and his eyes clicked with mine. Something in his green gaze had changed...

The moment we made eye contact, the Emerald Knight dashed over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Kinomi! Kinomi, are you ok?!" he asked, shaking me slightly. His voice was panicky.

"Hai, hai, I'm fine"

"What's going on?! Who was that guy?! Are you sure your ok?!"

"I'm fine!" I said firmly, pushing him back. "Who the heck are you?! How do you know my name?!"

The Emerald Knight grabbed me by the shoulders again and knelt down slightly so our faces were on the same level. His face had gone deadly pale, eyes wide with panic. "You don't recognize me?!?!?!"

I willed my mind to recognize him, taking in deep breaths of his earthy scent, eyes tracing every contour of his face.

His grip in my upper arms tightened. "Please..." he whispered. His voice sounded choked. "Remember me, Kinomi...."

My gaze shifted to his bright green eyes. Eyes I had seen so many times before....

The realization clicked so fast it actually made me dizzy.

_"ICHIROU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?!?"_

* * *

**Dramatic chaper, no? Please R&R and tell me what you thought of it.**

**I LUV writing all the parts with Ichirou/Emerald Knight! And Mizu too! But the part where he nearly got killed was hard to write.....**

**XD but I thoroughly enjoyed breaking Kish's nose!!! XD**

**Thanks for reading!!!**


	9. Song of the Heart

**Hello, all my wonderful readers! I have returned (finally) with the latest chapter of Kinomi's story. It took my forever and a week to write, but I hope the wait will be worth it! Among other things, this chapter includes fluff, action, drama, heartache, and-- most amazingly-- the first and only instance of Kinomi swearing! **

**Diclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew, Batman, the Joker, or any of the songs used.**

**Claimer: I own Kinomi, Ichirou/the Emerald Knight, Tei, Fi, and Re. I partially own Escabar the cashier, because he's actually my cousin's friend who wanted a cameo appearance under that name.**

**Fun Fact: The songs sung by the Mew Mews in this chapter (all bust Kinomi's) are all their image songs, and are actually sung by their voice actors! But since it's all in romanji, the lyrics are impossible to understand.... ^^; I actually recommend that you open up a tab on Youtube and search the songs as you read. Trust me, they're very good. **

**But, enough blah blah blah from me, on with the story!!!**

* * *

"Kinomi......." Ichirou whispered, pulling me close in a tight hug. His voice was shaky. "Jeez Kinomi.... don't scare me like that...."

I hugged him back, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Ichirou....." I couldn't believe it. How the heck Ichirou got powers, I didn't know. And I didn't care. My brother could now fight with me, and that was all that mattered.

Daringly, Ichirou whispered "Natsuhiboshi...."

I stifled a small gasp. Ichirou hadn't called me Natsuhiboshi since we were kids. It was a nickname I missed.......

I took a deep breath "Tell me exactly what happened." I asked when we had composed ourselves a little.

Ichirou tilted his face so he could look at me as he spoke. "I'm not really all that sure myself..."

"Tell me what you know"

Ichirou nodded and took a step back. "Masaya and I were walking home and there was this huge crash and then there were these ice wolve things and then we saw you guys getting beat up by that alien thing and then there was this flash and Masaya turned into the Blue Knight and then he did this thing and--"

"Jeez Ichirou! Take a breath already!"

"--and I turned into... into...a freak guy in a dress!!!!!"

"You're not a freak, you saved our lives!!!"

"I'M STILL IN A DRESS!!!!"

"Are not! It's a robe-thingy with shorts!!!"

"It's a dress and it feels stupid!!!!!!"

I smacked Ichirou on the forehead. "QUITE YOUR WHINING BAKA!!!! YOU'VE GOT A REALLY COOL SWORD SO THAT EVENS IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

To an observer, we were having a pointless and stupid sibling argument. In reality, though, this was just more proof that we were back to normal. Arguing is our specialty.

After a lot of yelling at each other, Mint finally came over and smacked us both. "Could you please shut up now?!" Her eyes widened when she realized she had just smacked her new boyfriend. "Oh! Uh...um...s-sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"It's ok" Ichirou grinned. "I deserved it"

Mint stared up at him. Her hand reached out to touch his hair. "Is that really you, Ichirou?"

"Yep. Incredible, no?"

Mint giggled. "You're wearing a dress...."

Ichirou turned to me again. "I TOLD YOU IT WAS A DRESS!!!!!!!"

"Oh, just SHUT UP, BAKA!!!!!!!!"

* * *

I turned over in bed. "Hey Mint?" I whispered over Pudding's snoring. "You awake?"

"Of course I am!" She said irritibly. "This is so degrading..."

"It's called a sleeping bag, Mint....."

"I'm sleeping on the FLOOR!!!!!!"

I sighed. "That's kinda the point....." After the fight, Ichirou and I had asked (or rather forced) Mint to come over for dinner, and she ended up sleeping over.

Mealtimes at my house are pretty dangerous. Stick your hand in at the wrong time, you might get it bitten off. But we never have to worry about running out of food, because Mom and Joey always make enough to feed the entire nation of Japan and still have enough leftovers for Rhode Island. We used to have very traditional Japanese dinners most nights, but since Pudding and her family moved in we've found that a hodgepodge of whatever food we feel like is much more convenient. And fun. Tonight we had fried chicken, ribeye steaks saturated in Joey's special sauce, fried rice, steamed rice, rice burgers, and about 7 different types of soups and salads. But, based on her behavior at dinner, Mint's tastes are a little more sophisticated than that. And the spontaneous food fight didn't really do much to help things...

For bed I gave her three choices: my bed with me and Pudding, the giant lazer-pointer red beanbag chair in the corner, or a sleeping bag. She had chosen the sleeping bag. Now she was blaming me for her stupid decision.

I propped myself up on my elbow to look down at her. "Crazy day today, huh?"

Mint looked up at me. "No kidding"

"Did you guys know about the Blue Knight being Masaya?"

"Yep....."

"How?"

"He told us"

"How did he get those powers? How'd Ichirou get them?"

"I have no idea. Quit asking me this"

I stuck my tongue out at her. "You're being a snob again"

"Well I seriously don't know"

I rolled my eyes, then fell quiet for a while. "Hey, Mint?" I piped up finally.

She groaned "What now?"

"Are you gonna tell anyone about Kish?" I asked in a small voice.

Now it was her turn not to speak. I didn't move, just lay there staring down at her, waiting for the answer that would decide my fate. Ok, maybe I'm being just a liiiitle melodramatic here but if Mint tells them......

.........well, let's just say it would be bad........

"No" Mint finally said. "I won't. there's no point in it."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so mu--"

"You should tell him" Mint interrupted softly.

Left field.......

"Tell him....?" I echoed blankly.

"Yah" Mint looked up at me. The corners of her mouth curved up n a very slight smile. "I mean, it's just gonna keep eating at your mind until you go crazy. If you wanna save your sanity, tell him how you feel. Once he knows, they you won't have to worry about it anymore"

"But what if he rejects me?"

"You already know he's gonna, so what's the big deal?"

Ok, I won't pretend that little reminder didn't sting..... "You're cheerful tonight...." I grumbled, plopping my head back down on the pillow.

"I'm tired....."

I smiled and looked back at her again. "You can still sleep in the beanbag chair, you know. It's very comfortable......"

Mint nodded, stood up and dragged herself over to the corner, her sleeping bag trailing behind her like a long tail. She settled herself in the chair and pulled the sleeping bag across her like a blanket.

I pulled my own blankets up over my head, thinking it over. What if I did tell Kish? Confessed my feelings, got it over with? Maybe it would be easy. Maybe it wouldn't hurt too much. Maybe he likes me too. Maybe the other Mews would accept it.

Maybe coconuts will rain from the sky and Zakuro will wear a clown suit to work.........

I blinked. Something wasn't right. I lay still, concentrating on my senses on find what it was. At first I couldn't put my finger on it. Everything seemed normal. Crickets chirping, the vroom of a car as it sped down the street, Mint and Pudding sleeping quietly....

Pudding sleeping quietly?

I sat up quickly and stared down at my little sister. For a second I had the absurd fear that if she wasn't snoring loud enough to drown out a vacuum, she obviously wasn't breathing, but that wasn't it. She was breathing all right, and after watching her for a second I realized she wasn't exactly quiet. She whimpering, mumbling scared little things in her sleep.

"Pudding!" I said in a whisper-yell, shaking her. "Wake up! It's just a nightmare, wake up!"

Pudding suddenly woke with a little shriek, sitting up so fast our heads bonked together, causing me to fall of the bed and get tangled in the covers.

"What now?!" Mint groaned, sitting up and staring at us. I started to untangle myself when a 80 pound crying monkey glomped me. "Oneechan!!!!"

I managed to free my arms and hug her. "It's ok, Pudding. It's ok..."

"What's wrong?" Mint called, her voice worried for a change.

"Nightmare" I called. "Just get back to sleep"

"Oneechan na no da?" Pudding whispered, tugging at my shirt to get my attention. I looked back down at her and held her closer, wiping away the tears with one hand. "It's ok, Pudding. It was just a dream."

"No na no da! It wasn't! It was the same dream na no da!!!!"

My heart froze, blood running cold through my veins. ".......what?"

"The dream na no da! The scary dream na no da! You told Pudding to tell you if she had it again na no da!"

My mind was working rapid-fire. "The dream where someone died and I was crying?"

"Yes na no da!!!!!" Pudding buried her face in my shirt, sobbing. "It was scary, Kinomi-oneechan na no da!!!"

I held her close, stroking her hair. "Calm down, it's ok, everything's going to be ok...." I reassured softly. But to be honest I wasn't really all that sure myself. The dreams had been getting worse, more vivid and frequent. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. To use Pudding's description......

I'm scared. Na no da.

* * *

The next sound I heard was the soothing, familiar sound of Hanacha blasting his trumpet. I was prepared to snuggle up closer in the covers and relax to the slightly off-key William Tell Overture now blaring through my window, but Mint's shrieking was making that pretty hard. I forced myself to sit up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I addressed her. "Calm down, Mint. It's normal"

"IT'S HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!"

I winced. "Not so loud. Hanacha's very sensitive to criticism."

Mint opened her mouth to yell something else but I had pulled the covers back over my head. My ears and tail unfurled, and I practically purred. You'd think my fox attributes only come out when I'm embarrassed, but I also get them when I'm happy or very relaxed like now. The ears and tail are just part of me now. I feel like I've been this way all my life. Maybe that''s why my DNA was compatible with the Canadian Swift Fox. I was already a fox to begin with. Maybe it's like that with all the Mews. Maybe--

My thoughts were interrupted by tiny fingers squirming into my side, ticking me. I laughed, twisted myself around and ticked Pudding back. It began a tickle fight that lasted for a grand total of 30 seconds before we crashed to the floor for the second time in a tangle of hair, fingers, blankets, and squeals.

Eventually we made it down to breakfast. I had lost my glasses and it took about 10 minutes to find them, and Mint had insisted on getting dressed before heading downstairs (a rule of hers that Pudding and I decided to ignore), and of course we had to comb the rat nests out of our hair, so it took about half an hour or so to get down. But it didn't really matter, since it was a weekend, meaning most of the family just ignored the trumpet and slept in. By now it's as soothing as a sudden lullaby. It might wake you up at first, and if you need to stay awake you can, but if not you can easily fall back asleep. Or at least it is in this household. I donno about the neighbors.....

"Morning, girls" Joey greeted as we stepped into the kitchen. He was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs and frying bacon. I grinned at him and licked my lips at the scent of cooking meat. "Morning, Joey. American breakfast today?"

Joey nodded. He was still in his pajamas (soft red plaid pants and a grey tanktop), and he appeared to have forgotten to shave this morning. "You guys sleep well?"

"No" Mint grumbled, taking her seat at the table. "Did you know that Hanacha-kun plays his trumpet on the roof?"

Joey held up his hand to reassure her. "Don't worry, Mint. It's normal" Mint mumbled something about there being no normal at this house, but Joey ignored her and looked at me and Pudding. "So how about you two? Sleep well?"

"Pudding had a nightmare" I answered for Pudding, seeing as she now had an entire banana stuffed in her mouth.

"Really? About what?"

"The Joker" I invented quickly. "I told you not to take her to see _The Dark Knight"_

Joey shrugged. "Sorry"

We were interrupted by a sleepy-looking Ichirou in Spongebob boxer shorts and a t-shirt with messed-up looking hair as he stumbled in and sat down across from me. "Good morning, Baltimore...." He yawned.

I rolled my eyes. "Been watching _Hairspray_ just a liiiitle too much, I see....."

"You're the one who never stops singing it...."

"And Pudding's the one who's always watching it, so blame her...."

"Blame the creators! They're the ones who cursed us with these songs that get permanently lodged in our brains!" Ichirou laughed, and his gaze shifted around the room. Pudding to my left cramming her face with bananas, Joey rummaging in the pantry for maple syrup, and, finally, Mint sitting on my right, looking confused as heck.

Ichirou blushed slightly, the faint pink in his cheeks contrasting with his hair. "Sorry. Does my still being in my underwear bother you?"

Mint just looked more lost than ever. "Nani?"

Ichirou stared at me, confused. I shrugged. Then, belatedly, I realized the problem: we had accidentally slipped out of Japanese and had been speaking in English for the past five minutes or so. We gave her a quick translation of what had been said, and Mint blushed when she realized what Ichirou had asked. "N-No, it's fine....."

"Good" Ichrou said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. Pudding cheered, her normal reaction to any kind of fluff whatsoever.

"FOOD TIME!!!!" Joey called over us all, setting down platters of food in front of us. Mint sat there, politely waiting for the plates to get passed around, while the rest of us just pulled off what we wanted. Mint hesitated, then followed suit. Conversation went pretty normal. Mint and Ichirou got to know each other better (shocking news: Mint's a bit of an otaku too), while Pudding and I bantered and ranted about absolutely nothing at all. Hanacha, Honcha and Chincha came down after a while, and an argument started up about who would have to wash the dishes today (Hanacha lost miserably to everyone else).

"Why is he staring at us like that?" Mint whispered after a while, pointing at Joey. I looked up to find him staring from Mint to Ichirou to me with an intensity that was almost scary.

"He finds you interesting." I whispered back. "Meet his eyes and watch what happens"

Mint nodded, and her eyes flicked up and locked onto his. The two held eye contact for a full ten seconds, the Joey said in rapid English "Mint, you may know that I'm the artist Joey Calisto. I'd like you to model for my next painting"

I translated that to Japanese before Mint had a chance to be confused. Once she understood she smiled at him. "Ok. Why?"

"You're perfect for my newest painting! Would you mind modeling with Ichirou and Kinomi?"

"Um... sure"

"Hey Uncle Joey?" Honcha called from in front of the microwave. "Can I microwave a lightbulb?"

"Not now, Honcha. It'll explode" Joey called. "If you want we can microwave a CD later"

"Really!?!?!" Squealed everyone else (except for Mint).

"And a bar of Ivory soap and some soy sauce packets too, if you want"

That's Joey. Always safe, always careful, always protective. Never does anything that could endanger our lives.....

I can't tell what the best stunt he's ever pulled is. Maybe the time he tried to light fireworks off the roof of his car, or the time he cooked popcorn without the lid over the pot, or perhaps the time he baked a Furbee in the oven.....

But Joey's the fun one of the family, the 26-year-old with the mind and attention span of a terminally bored collage student. He's always the one with stupid ideas, or the one who always approves of our stupid ideas. I think it's partially because he's American, and partially because he's a slightly psychic world-famous artist.

I think Mint may be right, actually. I think I may live in the crazyhouse.

We finished our meal with no major catastrophes. Hanacha got to work washing dishes, Joey went upstairs to set up his studio, Mint and Ichirou and I went went to our rooms to get ready, and Pudding followed us to whine about how she's not gonna be in any of the paintings today. Halfway through pulling on my shirt Ichigo called me on cellphone and asked if we wanted to come to the karaoke box this afternoon since we had the day off from work.

All three of us practically screamed with happyness. Me because I love karaoki, Mint because she's a bird and she loves singing, Pudding just because she likes to scream. Ichigo took that to mean 'yes'.

When everyone was dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, ect., ect., we headed upstairs to what is debated to be the best room in our house: Joey's art studio.

I smiled and inhaled deeply as I entered the studio. It was on the third floor of our house (AKA attic), it was sunny from all the windows Dad installed in it, and it smelled amazing. Like acrylic gouache, watercolors, ink, paint thinner, pencils, paper, pastels, charcoal, 99-cent bags of snackfoods, paintbrushes, chocolate, wood, and cardboard all mixed together. There were cardboard boxes piled all over, but most had nothing in them whatsoever. They just acted as decoration mostly, but sometimes he set them up in elaborate shapes and made little stages for his living models to pose on. Right now he had about ten or so in a couch shape in the corner, but that was it.

"Hey guys" Joey called as we stepped in. He had his face buried in his Sketchbook of Wonders (which is just a normal sketchbook with the words JOEY'S SKETCHBOOK OF WONDERS written on the cover and a handmade copyright warning on the inside) and his paint supplies were already set up. "Mint just stand there" He directed, pointing her over to a free space in the center. "I wanna take some full body sketches for future reference."

Mint stepped over. Joey procceded to call out random orders to her ("Sit on your knees" "Lay down" "Stick your right leg back and your left arm forward") and kept moving around to get all angles covered. For once Mint didn't make any smart comments. I think she knows this'll make her famous one day. Ichirou, Pudding, and I were all hovering over Joey's shoulder, watching him draw.

There was something special about Joey's pictures, the slight imperfection that made his work unique and undescribably beautiful. He first got his inspiration from the fanciful, dramatic images of manga. True, it was English translation manga, but it still captured his imagination. Even his drawings today still hold manga-like qualities. Sometimes overly cute and chibi-ish, sometimes light, feathery, and beautifully delicate, and always teeming with emotions. He also normally adds random animal attributes or wings or stuff like that to his drawings. It's from him that I got my fascination with angel wings.

"Ok, go sit over there" Joey said after about 30 sketches, pointing to the cardboard couch. Mint obediently took a seat and started retying her hair buns. "Ichirou take a seat beside her" Joey called. Ichirou plopped down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

Joey gave the 'okay' hand sign. "Now Ichirou, scoot in a little closer. Mint, lean into him." Joey was talking rapidly in English, calling out orders so fast Ichirou barely had time to translate. "Ichirou hold her a little more protectively than that. Use both arms. Mint look up at him, Ichirou look down at her. Mint lean your head on his chest."

This continued for about an hour or so before Joey deceded he had enough sketches and it was time to start painting. When he's painting he likes to be totally alone, to our great annoyance.

"Hey Joey?" I managed to ask before he shooed us all out for the day. "Weren't you gonna do me too?"

Joey paused. He sighed and did one of those scratch-the-back-of-the-head confused-awkward moves. "I was. But the picture just won't come. I don't have a clear image of what it is just yet. But I know it's gonna be something worth drawing. Something.... heartbreaking. Dramatic."

"Great" I smiled. "I can't wait to see it"

I may be smiling on the outside, but in reality I felt little chills run up my spine at his words. Joey must have been seeing my dream.

I was about to ask him more, but Pudding grabbed my hand and dragged me away before I could. "Come on na no da! Let's go sing na no da!"

* * *

When we finally arrived at the karaoke box was almost deserted. Just the six of us Mews, and Hoshiko standing beside another girl with short curly blonde hair who was flirting with the cashier (a quick glance at his nametag revealed his name to be Escabar).

My jaw literally dropped open when I saw Hoshiko's companion. I almost didn't recognize her at first, but there was no mistaking the Ouran High School Host Club messenger bag with the Team Edward buttons on it.....

"Hanako-chan!" I practically squealed from the shock."Your hair!"

Hanako's hair, once almost as long as mine, was now cropped to shoulder length, perfect little blonde ringlets framing her pale face.

"Do you like it?" She asked, voice high with excitement as she twirled around to give me the full veiw. "I just got it done this morning. Locks of Love, you know"

I gave her a quick hug. "It's incredible!"

Hanako's smile was radiant, pure happyness and pride at her new hair. "Thank you!" She picked up a strand of my hair. "You should gets yours cut too. Send it off to Locks of Love like I did."

I shrugged. No matter what problems it gave me or how much I claimed to hate it, I secretly like having my hair all superlong and thick like this. "Maybe...."

"No, seriously. It'd look nice"

"I'll think about it" I answered doubtfully. My eyes flicked to Hoshiko, pleading that she would rescue me from Hanako. Once she gets an idea lodged in her mind, she normally won't let it go.

Hoshiko gave me a single nod and the said quickly, "Hey Hanako, tell Kinomi-chan our plan for the talent show"

"Yes, definetly! Thanks for reminding me" Hanako flashed Hoshiko a tiny smile, then looked back a me. "So what we're planning on is either the Lucky Star or the Hare Hare Yuki Dance, it depends how many more people we an find. You in?"

"Definetly!" I agreed. "Have you considered Caramell Dansen?"

Hoshiko shook her head. "Nah, too easy. Anyone can do that. Lucky Star and Hare Hare Yuki require a bit more skill."

"Um, ladies?" Mid-conversation Escabar leaned in and held out two cups of soda. "Your box is ready"

"Finally!" Hoshiko grabbed the drinks and half-pushed Hanako to the open karaoke box. "Cya later, Kinomi-chan!

"Bye guys!" I called back, before rejoining the others at the cashier. Lettuce was stammering out her order, Ichigo was filling up drinks, Pudding was bouncing around as usual, and Mint and Zakuro were looking at the menu above the counter. I barely glanced at it before deciding that I wanted was a chocolate milkshake. What else?

The food took a while getting here, but by the time it got here there was a karaoke box open. Everyone gathered their food and took it before anyone else could. It was pretty small, with a table in a center and three couches seated around it. There was a stage in the front, and an index of songs on the table. Mint immediately grabbed the index and started flipping through rapidly while the rest of us took our seats on the couches, setting down our snacks on the table. I took a sniff of my milkshake before daring to drink it, just to make sure it was poison-free. Thankfully, it was.

"Found one!" Mint exclaimed after a while of hard searching. I leaned over to look at the song she was pointing at, but before I could she snapped it shut and tossed it to Pudding. In miliseconds she had reached the stage and snatched up the microphone. I've never seen her move so fast. Almost flew. I swear I saw her wings out for a second, but she forced them away quickly.

"This is Afternoon Tea by Kakazu Yumi" She said into the mike. She clicked a button on the karaoke machine the music started up, classy and mod, a beat that matched Mint perfectly.

_"Anata to nomu CUP OF TEA  
Sutekina AFTERNOON yumemita toki ga ima koko ni..."_

My head bopped along with the music as Mint danced across stage. Her singing voice was very smooth and didn't go much higher than usual, with a rich quality to it that must come from being part bird.

_"PARTY hiraite rizumu toru  
Nagareru MUSIC shinji yoku  
Tanoshii koto dake chiribamete  
Kanashimi itsu shika kieteiku..."_

Pudding was boucing up and down on the couch, clearly enjoying the song, and even Zakuro's foot was tapping in time to the music. I couldn't resist humming the last part of the song with her.

_"Gin no supuun BRILLIANT TIME  
RICHna AFTERNOON watashirashisa wo torimodosou..."_

Everyone started clapping before the song had even ended. Mint bowed, jumped gracefully down off the stage, and settled down beside Zakuro. She grabbed the index from where Pudding had left it on the table and held it out to Zakuro. "Would you like to sing too, Zakuro-oneesama?"

Zakuro took the book without a word and flicked through it. After a few seconds she snapped it shut again and walked up onstage. She took the mike and said simply "Doubi Douwa Dancin' Night, by Noda Junko." Before anyone had any time to react, or even really begin to wonder what 'Doubi Douwa' meant, Zakuro pressed the on button and the song began, an energetic blend of trumpet and drums.

_"Yeah! Otona dake no dancin' dareka oshiete choudai_

_made no mama ja tsuiteikenai kuyashii_

_Kono mune DOKI DOKI SUTEPPU ni_

_DOUDOUWA DOUDOUWA DOUDOUBI DOUBI Dance Tonight"_

My jaw dropped for the second time today. It was her voice alright, but higher and somehow lighter than usual. The song was upbeat and didn't fit my idea of her at all. The Zakuro I knew was a practically emotionless robot.

_"Yeah! Kodomo janai no yo oboete iru desho? Mammy_

_Senobishitai dake nante omo wa naide ne_

_Kono mune DOKI DOKI SUTEPPU ni_

_DOUDOUWA DOUDOUWA DOUDOUBI DOUBI Dance Tonight"_

I wondered if I was dreaming. Zakuro was SMILING. Actually _smiling, _like she was enjoying herself. She danced her way through the guitar solo, practically laughing with exitement. I actually pinched myself to check if I was dreaming.

_"Sou yo one two three four Dancin'_

_Soshite up up up down Dancin'_

_Kitto red blue yellow Dancin'_

_Dou demoii kara Dancin'_

_Dakara iiyo! iiyo! so! buru buru fallin' love_

_Dakara motto! motto! so! DOUBI DOUWA DANCIN' NIGHT"_

There was another round of applause and even some cheers as Zakuro bowed, stepped offstage, and sat down again beside Mint.

"Zakuro-oneesama!" Mint had little hearts in her eyes, and was actually gripping the side of the couch in order to stop herself from glomping her. "That was amazing! You're so cool!!!!!"

Zakuro smiled at her, then handed over the index to Pudding. "How about you sing next?"

Pudding didn't even bother taking the book. "Pudding already knows what song she's singing na no da!" She yelled, hopping up onstage. She grabbed the microphone and said just a little louder than necessary "Pudding's gonna sing Taiyou no Watashi by Mochizuki Hisayo na no da!" before jabbing the on button. A bright, cheerful song started up.

_"Manmaarui taiyou no hikari_

_Tooku kara todoku Power "on"_

_Chicchai KARADA ni himeta_

_Atsui HAATO ni SUICCHI "on" "_

Words cannot describe the high-pitched kawaii of the song. Mint was wincing as though Pudding's ultra-high voice was physically painful to her ears, but Lettuce was clapping along, clearly enjoying it.

_"Manmaarui tsuki no aosa e_

_Te wo nobashitara Power "on"_

_Chicchai omoi wo komete_

_KIRA meku KAKERA Flash "on" "_

Pudding was easily the one enjoying herself most. Dancing across stage, face changing to match the words, and just generally acting like a professional singer. I resisted the urge to hop up onstage and join her, forcing myself to just sit and be quiet like all the others.

_"NAMIDA wa sora de ame ni naru..._

_BURU~ na iki wa kaze ni naru...(KEDO)_

_Funky MONKIII sekai ichi!_

_Furetara SAIGO YAKEDO suru no da! (Hey)"_

The song ended off in an echo, and as soon as the last note had vanished Pudding jumped off the stage in an aerial glomp that knocked me off the end of the couch. "How was Pudding, Kinomi-oneechan na no da!?"

I laughed. "You were awesome, Pudding!"

While me and my little sister were having our hug-fest, Ichigo was flipping though the index. By the time we had untangled ourselves she was already onstage, announcing her song. "I'll be singing Saikou Ni Happy! by Nakajima Saki "

I dragged Pudding onto the couch beside me as the music started, quiet at first then swelling with her voice.

_"yubi to yubi ga fureru tada sore dakede mune ga tokimeku_

_denki hashitta you ni karada SHIBIREru koi no hajimari ne"_

Her voice was way better than I expected. It didn't crack like I thought it would, almost as rich and smooth as Mint, and filled with the bubbly attitude that so defined her.

I felt a prickle at the back of my neck and turned to tell Pudding to quite tickling me. But she was totally absorbed in the song, doing her best to dance while still seated. I glanced around, trying to find the source of my unease, if that's the right word. It actually wasn't uncomfortable at all, more like pleasant tickle than anything else, happy goosebumps running all up and down my spine and arms.

I looked around again. Other than the couches and table and the stage and the people, it was empty. My eyes flickered up to the high ceiling, just to see if maybe some magic happyness fairy was fluttering around or something.

I stifled a gasp. Impossible.....

Kisshu was hovering close to the light fixture, practically pressed against the ceiling to keep himself from being seen. Why Rose and the others hadn't detected him yet? Why had no one else noticed him?

Who cared!? Now I could look at Kish as much as I wanted!!!!!

At first I was jealous of the way he stared at Ichigo. He must have some to see her sing. But then I decided to stop caring and just enjoy the uninterrupted time I had to stare at him. Lying across the air, chin resting on his hands, he was totally relaxed and oblivious to my staring. I felt the burning flames start up again in my heart as I watched his black angel's face. It was one of those moments when I REALLY wished my cellphone had a camera.

_"yume ya kibou mune ni hohoemi aeru sono_

_TAIMINGU ga_

_isshou ni natta shunkan nakechau kurai saikou ni_

_Happy!"_

I blinked. The song couldn't be done already! I wanted to stare at Kish more!!!!!!! But already Ichigo was taking a bow, the last few notes of the song fading away. I forced my gaze off my love and smiled like the rest of them, clapping for Ichigo even though I hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to her song.

Ichigo took her seat beside Lettuce again, grinning hugely. "How was I?"

"A-amazing, Ichigo-san!" Lettuce said cheerfully. "You're such a good singer!"

Ichigo nodded in thanks and picked up the index, holding it out to her. "Wanna sing next"

Lettuce hesitated. "W-well, um...."

"I wanna sing next!" The words burst out before I could even attempt contain them. I mentally smacked myself when I realized what I had said. I didn't wanna sing in front of Kish......

Ichigo smiled and handed the index over. "Ok, here you go!"

I took the book silently and wandered aimlessly across the lists of songs, wondering what I was searching for. None of these songs seemed right. My mind was totally focused on the incredible guy suspended above me.

I bit my lower lip. This was crazy. I should just pick any old song and get it over with. Make a quick run to the bathroom until Kish had left. SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT I WAS ALREADY DOING.

Stupid Mint..... why did she have to go and plant that idea in my head?

What I was doing was looking for a song that would confess my feelings to Kish......

I flipped a few pages, scanning through the songs. I had to move fast or Kish might leave. My eyes flicked up again for a second just to make sure he was still there.

He was. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

His head was still in his hands, but now he was staring down at me. When he noticed I was looking at him, he gave me that tiny smile I loved so much and winked at me. I blushed and went back to the index.

My eyes widened. There it was. Sitting right in the middle of the page, in all it's American-to-Japanese-dub glory, was the song. The very quintessence of my love for Kish condensed into 3 minutes and set to music. Perfect.

I closed the index very slowly, rising to my feet as I did so, and climbed the steps one at a time up onstage. I picked up the microphone and held up to my lips. "Can you all understand English?" I asked, trying not to let my voice shake.

Zakuro nodded. Pudding yelled "YES NA NO DA!!!!!!", but Lettuce and Ichigo shook their heads. Mint rolled her eyes "You already know my answer......"

I risked another glance at Kish. He nodded to show he could understand. I flashed him the quickest of smiles and, before I could give myself time to talk myself out of it, pressed the 'on' button of the karaoke machine. I had less than a quarter of a beat to gather some air in my lungs before.....

_"Hey hey anoko wa ima ichi  
Ne ne atarashii ko ga hitsuyou  
Hey hey atashi nante iinjyanai_

_Hey hey atashi ni wa wakatteru  
No way no way himitsujyanai  
Hey hey atashi ga natteageru"_

My eyes flicked up to Kish again, and I blushed as I sang out the next verses, now in English.

_"You're so fine I want you mine you're so delicious  
I think about you all the time you're so addictive  
Don't you know what I can do to make you feel alright"_

Yep. The quintessence of my love for Kish. The Japanese version of Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend'

_"Don't pretend I think you know I'm damn precious  
And hell yeah, I'm the one and only princess  
I can tell you like me too and you know I'm right"_

Ok, yah, maybe not perfect song for us. I mean, he doesn't like me at all, but other than that.......

_"She's like so whatever"_ I sang, staring straight at Kish and pointing at Ichigo. _"You could do so much better_  
_I think we should get together now  
And that's what everyone's talking about_

_hey hey anoko wa ima ichi  
ne ne atarashii ko ga hitsuyou  
hey hey atashi nante iinjyanai_

_hey hey atashi ni wa wakatteru  
no way no way himitsujyanai  
hey hey atashi ga natteageru"_

The look on Kish's face was priceless, a combo of utter shock and mild amusement. I think he knew I was singing this for him. I hope he knew.

_"I can see the way, I see the way you look at me  
And even when you look away I know you think of me  
I know you talk about me all the time again and again_

_So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear  
Better, yet, make your girlfriend disappear  
I don't wanna hear you say her name ever again"_

Everytime I said 'your girlfriend' I always pointed at Ichigo. Anything to get my feelings across to him.

_"Because..._

_She's like so whatever  
And she could do so much better  
I think we should get together now  
And that's what everyone's talking about_

_hey hey anoko wa ima ichi  
ne ne atarashii ko ga hitsuyou  
hey hey atashi nante iinjyanai_

_hey hey atashi ni wa wakatteru  
no way no way himitsujyanai  
hey hey atashi ga natteageru"_

I had lost notice of everyone else in the room. For now it was just me, literally singing my heart out, and Kish, the guy I'm so insanely in love with it hurts.

_"In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger  
'Cause I can, 'cause I can do it better  
There's no other, so when's it gonna sink in  
She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?_

_In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger  
'Cause I can, 'cause I can do it better  
There's no other, so when's it gonna sink in  
She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?_

_hey hey anoko wa ima ichi  
ne ne atarashii ko ga hitsuyou  
hey hey atashi nante iinjyanai_

_hey hey atashi ni wa wakatteru  
no way no way himitsujyanai  
hey hey atashi ga natteageru_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I don't like your girlfriend!  
No way! No way!  
I think you need a new one  
Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I could be your girlfriend_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I know that you like me  
No way! No way!  
You know it's not a secret  
Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I want to be your girlfriend_

_Hey, hey!"_

There. It was over. I stood there, breathing hard. Everyone was applauding loudly, Pudding jumping up and down with excitement, but was staring up at Kish. He was clapping softly, giving me a tiny smile.

"Kish that song was for you" I whispered in English into the mike.

Before he could take in what I had said, someone appeared beside him. I let out a small groan. Why did HE have to appear NOW, of all times?!?!?

"Kiiiish!" Tart whined. "How long do you plan to watch these bakas sing? I'm boooooored! And it's all in English, too, I can't understand a word of it! And besides, you said after the old cat lady did her song you'd--"

Kish gave Tart a playful shove. "Ah, shut up! Admit it, you liked watching the monkey girl!"

A faint pink blush was slowly creeping up Tart's face. "D-Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!

"Well...well....." Tart stammered, fighting for some sort of retort that would actually work. "Well.....You liked watching the fox lady!"

Kish glanced back down at me, and I could swear I saw the faintest hint of red in his pale face. "Shut up........."

"KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

Mid-arguement Pie popped in between them and smacked them both. "Quit your bickering you two! We came to attack the Mew Mews, not watch them sing!"

Tart stuck his tongue out at him. "You're just ticked you couldn't watch the fish girl sing" Kish laughed.

I could almost see the little sweatdrop pop out on the side of Pie's head. "N-No, just do your jobs! Now which one of you brought the Chimera Anima?"

Kish pointed at Tart. "He did."

Tart stared at Kish. "I thought you brought it!"

"No, you were supossed to!"

"Nuh-uh, YOU were!"

"No, Pie told YOU to bring it!"

"No, YOU!"

"YOU!"

"YOU!"

"MIDGET!"

"BAKA!"

"Shut up!!!" Pie finally yelled. "I'll get the stupid parasite!!!" He glared at them both and teleported away.

There was a moment of silence after Pie left, then Tart said in a tiny, singsong voice. "Pie's having a melt-down....."

Everyone in the vicinity burst out laughing. Hard. Tart practically fell out of the air he was laughing so hard. Which just made Kish laugh even harder. Which made me calm down a little just so I could hear him laugh. It was a sound that was so purely _Kish _it took all my willpower not to glomp him to the ground and start kissing him right here and now..........

Seconds later Pie reappeared holding a little jellyfish-like Chimera Anima. It only took a few seconds of him glaring at us for us to shut up. Except for the chibi kawaii robots who started squeaking "Alien alert! Alien alert!" as soon the Chimera Anima showed up.

"Now we need someone to infuse it with...." Pie said, regarding the spinning jellyfish. And conveniently the door just randomly opened up at that moment and Escabar the cashier-waiter looked in "Hey just wanted to let you all know you've only got five minu--" He broke off as he saw the aliens. "What the.....?"

Pie shrugged. "I guess you'll do" He said, floating down and holding his hand in front of Escabar's chest. Escabar was lifted up off the ground, chest tugged toward Pai's hand like a magnet. Slowly, a simple but beautiful crystal emerged from where his heart was. Escabar's skin faded to a sick blue-green shade and he dropped to the ground, unmoving and most likely dead. I stared, open-mouthed as Pie picked up the crystal and surveyed it as emotionlessly as always.

"It's basic," Kish observed. "but very pure. I can't see any imperfections" Tart nodded in agreement. I just gaped at them. Why were these guys acting like gem dealers when when just KILLED A GUY?!!?!?!?!?!

Kish looked over at me and laughed. "Don't worry" he reassured in response to my shock. "He's still alive"

I just nodded, dumbfounded. If he wasn't dead then what was he?!

Pie looked between the crystal in one hand, to the parasite in the other, then looked at Kish and Tart. "Are you ready? This one may be a little unstable"

Kish nodded. Tart just rolled his eyes. "Get on with it already, Pie"

Pie sighed. "Impatiant, are we?"

"Just fuse the stupid parasite already"

Pie sighed again and brought the Chimera Anima and crystal together, practically squashing them between his hands. Light leaked out from between his fingers, so bright I had to shield my eyes. There was this sound like a chainsaw cutting through steel, and the light dimmed enough for me to see again.

My mouth dropped open for a third time. Standing there was what had to be the hugest bear this world has ever seen. With bloodred fur. And overalls. And a giant chainsaw. I looked it had just walked out of the world's stupidest, yet scariest, mid-summer horror movie.

Tart just burst out laughing again. "That thing looks so STUPID!!!!!!!!!"

Kish smacked him on the back of the head. "Baka....."

Pie just raised one hand calmly. "Attack!" He called to the beast. It turned to us, eyes wild and rabid, and gave a fierce snarl.

"MEW MEW METAMORPHOSIS!!!!!" The six of us shouted, and the bear was momentarily blinded by six colored flashes of light. He gave an angry growl and swung his claws around blindly, his arms elongating and stretching long enough to scrape gashes along the walls. We scattered, jumping high out of the way in random directions to avoid getting hit. I sprung straight up, so narrowly avoiding the monster's daggerlike claws I actually felt the little wisps of air as the paw passed under my feet. Mid-jump, the bear swung his other paw around and caught me in the back, slamming me into the wall. I waited for him to drop me so I could attack him, but he continued to push against my back, pinning me to the wall and crushing my lungs. For a second I feared either my ribs would snap or I would suffocate under the intense pressure, but before either happened the wall crumbled and I fell through to the neat grass outside. I flipped myself over, gasping for air, but before I could summon my weapon the bear's massive paw rammed against my chest again, forcing the last oxygen out of my lungs. I struggled to draw breath, fighting against the clouding blackness threatening to engulf me, hoping not to pass out yet again.

"Ribbon Mint Echo!" Mint's voice shattered through the darkness, the sudden streak of bright blue knocking both the bear and the incoming unconsiousness away. Her gloved hand clasped mine a second later and pulled me to me feet. "You alright?"

I nodded, sucking in huge gulps of cool air, then yanked Mint down out of the path of the swinging chainsaw. We both glanced back up again as Ichigo called out "Mew Mews! Your power, now!" She held her hands up above her head. The bubbles of power immerged from us and pooled together in her cupped fingers.

"Strawberry Bell Bell Version Up!" She yelled, and her heart-shaped weapon swelled up till it was taller than her, growing rings that wrapped around her small figure. She took aim and shrieked "Ribbon Strawberry Check Surprise!" without even pausing for a breath, and the pink hurricane struck up again, whipping the bear around in circles. I saw the creature's form shrink in size, glowing so bright I had to shield my eyes. again The light and Ichigo's attack faded away at the same time, and when I opened my eyes the Chimera Anima jellyfish was spinning peacefully in mid-air next to the floating crystal.

"I'll go put this back" Zakuro said, walking over and scooping up the crystal carefully in her hand. She leapt over to Escabar's motionless body and lowed the crystal back in his chest while Masha scooped up the parasite in it's mouth, chirping happily.

Kish sighed and stretched, then crossed his arms behind his head in a very relaxed sort of way. "Well, that worked well..." Tart laughed in agreement

Pai flashed a glare at them. "Kisshu, Taruto, you two shouldn't be so lenient about your mistakes"

Tart rolled his eyes. "Whatever..."

"I think it was worth it" Kish said lightly. "There are some really beautiful singers in this group"

"That's not the point!" Pai sighed. "We're on a mission to reclaim our home planet! This isn't about fun!"

Tart rolled his eyes. "Je~lous..." Kish sang.

"Of what?"

"I got to see my love sing today, your just ticked you couldn't either...." Kish purred, winking down at us Mews. Just the thought that it might be me he was referring to sent my heart suddenly racing, blood rushing up in my cheeks.

Pai and Tart both smacked him across the back of the head. "Overromantic baka......" "SHUT ABOUT THE STUPID PINK NEKO ALREADY!!!!!"

Kish was about to argue back when out of nowhere a bolt of scorching fire blasted between them. We all leapt back out of the way, Tart actually toppling over backwards in his haste to not get roasted. I glared in the direction of the flames, ready to kill whatever idiot had decided to fry the ends of my bangs, and found myself staring at a pair of identical nine-year-olds with closely cropped, fiery red hair. Their eyes were a blazing, mischievous gold, and their clothes were all in heated shades of brown and crimson and seemed frayed around the edges. The only difference between them is that one wore a gold bracelet around her upper left arm, and the other wore it around her right. Behind them stood an older-looking boy with soft white hair and eyes so pale blue they hardly had any color in them at all. His clothes were much more modest, almost formal, the cloth purest white edged in black, the shirt high-collared and the pants long and slim. As always, they had the trademark alien fangs and pointy ears.

It was more of Kinu's henchmen: Tei, Fi, and Re.

Pudding waved at Fi and Re with a friendly "Hi there na no da!" The twins waved back just as cheerfully.

Mint groaned, "MORE of them!?" Tei flashed her an angry glare. "Attack" he directed coldly, and both twins nodded, raised one hand each, and shot out dual streams of fire.

Alien and Mew alike scattered to avoid the flames. The two little girls laughed and shot more fire spiraling off in all directions, scrambling us up even more and creating nothing short of chaos as we attempted not to get BBQ-ed. There was so much red heat dancing before my eyes it was impossible to see my two tiny targets, their tattered red clothing blending perfectly with the jagged flames. Smoke stung my eyes and decreased my vision even more, so the rest of my comrades were lost in a blur of hazy colors.

Suddenly a shout of "Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" cut though the fire, and a torrent of water immediately extinguished the flames. I tried to shout a thanks to Lettuce but the second I opened my mouth I immediately ended up inhaling a mouthful of smoke. I doubled over, choking and coughing hard as I tried to clear out my now-dusty mouth and lungs, when a strangled shriek made me look up again. Squinting through the the smoke I was able to make out a bubble of strangely clean air in the midst of the chaos, and lying in the center of that was a small, blue form.

I almost gasped and choked again, immediantly dashing over to the figure lying on the grass. Why Mint was passed out in a clean-air bubble, I didn't know or care. All I cared about at the moment was getting over there and saving my best friend.

I took my first steps into the clear air, and was almost knocked off my feet by a fierce wind. That explained why the air was so clear here, a small tornado was whisking away the smoke. I took advantage of the fact that there was actually breathable air there and sucked in a huge breath. Then I took a few more steps closer to Mint and.....

Suddenly the air was ripped from my lungs. I gasped, trying to pull in some oxygen again, but my lungs seemed to have stopped working. My ears, too, seemed to have suddenly ceased to function. A near total silence pressed in around them, making my eardrums ache. What was going on?!

I flash of white flicked before my eyes. I looked up to see the slim figure of Tei speeding around me in a wide circle. I saw him flash a wicked grin at me, and my mind jumped back to science class last Tuesday. Air spinning around, creating a small tornado, creating a small vacuum in the center where there was no air whatsoever.....

I had to get out of here.

I crawled over to Mint and grabbed her arms. She was pretty much out cold by this point, so I figured she wouldn't mind a few grass stains. I started dragging her to the edge, back into the smoke. My lungs were aching from oxygen deprivation, and my shoulders sagged under Mint's weight. Jeez, I thought ballerinas were supposed to be LIGHT....

The back of my foot smacked into a rock and I fell over backward on my butt. I dug my heels into the dirt and pushed, trying to drag myself and Mint out of here, but nothing worked. Mint lay lifeless in my arms, and it felt like my lungs were shrivling and breaking up into little bits, that's how much they hurt. My vision blurred from the incoming darkness.

Was this what my vision had been warning me about? Suffocation at the hands of Tei? My best friend dying in my arms, with me unable to do anything to prevent it? It was starting to look like that. Whatever the case, my body had finally given out. I collapsed back on the ground, Mint slumped across my chest. I couldn't move even if I wanted to, and my lungs were probably nothing more than black ash by now.

Out of nowhere two strong arms grabbed my shoulders and started pulling me back. A second later, explosions of movement and sound smacked my ears. I could hear again. The air around me was dry and smoky, but it was still air, and I gulped down great lungfuls of it. It made my charred lungs feel sore and raw, but it felt good at the same time. And I could finally hear now, all the sounds of the battle ringing though my head clearly. And a new sound too, a familiar and clear voice what made me smile to myself. "Kinomi! Kinomi, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

I'm not sure how, but my brother had shown up at last.

I opened my eyes and flashed my brother a quick grin. "I'm ok, Ichirou" I whispered. My thoat felt like sandpaper. "Go save your girl--"

Too late. The second I had opened my eyes and Ichirou, now in his Emerald Knight form, had seen I was still breathing he snatched Mint off me into his arms.

"Is she breathing?" I asked, pushing myself up slowly.

"No...no she isn't...." He hesitated for one second to check her pulse, then leaned down and locked his mouth around hers. I saw the rise and fall of her chest as the Emerald Knight forced two breathes down her throat, then he pulled up again and pressed a few times on her chest, making her heart beat reluctantly. He forced to more breaths into her, two more chest compressions. Two breathes, two chest compressions. Two breathes, two chest compressions. Repeating over and over, attempts to force life back into Mint's body. Ichirou was strangely calm throughout this, almost mechanical. Like he'd separated himself from humanity for the time being and let the repeated motions overtake him. Trying not to let his emotions get in the way of saving her life.

But no matter how many times he repeated his rescue breathing or chest compressions or whatever else he was doing, he was getting no respose. Mint looked just as dead as ever.

"Please wake up..." I whispered, as if that would make any difference. My hand reached up to touch the Mew Aqua Ryou had given me. I had taken to wearing it around my neck at all times or, sometimes, down my shirt like now. He said to use it only in desprite times, when there was no other option. And if Mint didn't wake up soon, I think that time would officially be now.

Ichirou's mouth was just pulling away from hers again, and I was just about to suggest we use the Mew Aqua, when Mint coughed. It was just a tiny, frail little noise, but it meant she was breathing. Ichirou pulled his hands away from her chest and stared down at her, surprised.

She coughed again, a bit louder this time. Ichirou's mouth was hanging open slightly in shock, but his eyes were wide with hope. He picked her up in his arms, moving her as gentlely as if she had been made of glass, and pulled her onto his lap, holding her head close to his chest. "......Mint?"

Mint opened her eyes very slowly, looking up at Ichirou. She opened her mouth, and very faintly I heard her say "....Ichirou?"

A disbelieving smile broke though the shock on Ichirou's face. He had done it. He'd saved his dream girl's life. I gave a tiny laugh, pure relief spreading though me. Mint was gonna be ok.

And I'm not sure if this broke the moment or just made it better, but the next second Ichirou did something I never imagined I'd see him do.

He hugged Mint tighter, buried her face against her shoulder, and broke down crying. Seriously. My brother, the calmest and coolest guy I knew, was crying, the held-back emotions from before finally spilling out. I wrapped my arms around them both, trying to calm him, and heard his broken whispers.

"Mint... y-you.... I th-thought you were...." he sobbed. "And K-Kinomi..... Na-Natsuhiboshi...... you were both d-dead..... and I thought I'd n-never see you again.... and I--"

"Shh, it's ok" I soothed, while Mint touched her lips against his tearstained cheek. I couldn't stop myself from smiling at his words. It really just shows, even if he doesn't always show it, he really does care. "We're fine now....."

"I-I know...." Ichirou whispered. He pulled away and wiped away his tears, managing to pull himself back under control. "I'm just so..."

I smiled at him, then glanced down at Mint. She was sitting up in his arms, rubbing her sore throat and staring at Ichirou in amazement. I guess she'd never thought to image the Emerald Knight in tears either. In a spurt of joy at the sight of her face, Ichirou leaned down and pressed his lips against Mint's. I scooted away from them, trying to give them some space to reunite, and stood up again to survey the battle. The twins were still fighting, though not as enthusiastically as before, and with much less fire and much more martial arts. Tei was floating a few yards away at the brink of his airless bubble, watching the three us us with curious amusement. His gaze shifted from the kissing couple to me as I looked at him, and our eyes met.

Slowly, his facial expression changed. The amusement faded so all that was left was confusion, then that slowly morphed to recognition and continued to change until it was somewhere in the relms of furious hatred. Before I could even begin to wonder what this was all about something smacked into me and sent me flying backwards. Tei's livid face appeared before mine, having flown to me so quickly and furiously I couldn't even see him move. He slammed me into the ground and pressed his hands against my neck, choking me. What did that make this, the third time of the day someone's tried to suffocate me?

"You!" he seethed, his mad eyes flashing with rage. "It was you! You were the one who hurt Mizu!"

Even with my third suffocation of the day blocking my throat, managed to choke out, "I'm sorry! I had to! I didn't mean to--"

"Silence!" Tei snapped, giving me a harsh shake. I could see tears beginning to glimmer in his pale eyes. "You'll die for what you did to him! I'll kill you! And that bird girl too, she broke his heart! I'll kill you both for hurting him! I--"

Mid-sentence Tei was thrown off me. Just like that out of nowhere. What the heck? I blinked a few times in confusion. Things were happening way too fast for me. Then I sat up and looked over to the left, where Tei and my savior were fighting, and it dawned on me who had just saved my life.

Kisshu was locked in a violent wrestling match with Tei, both boys hurling insults at each other. Kisshu had saved my life. Kish. He loved Ichigo, I knew that, and yet he saved my life.

Believe it or not the euphoria of this discovery only lasted a second or two. It was soon replaced by a type of anger I normally only associate with karate practice. It wasn't really anger, more like the fierce urge to go seek some revenge and kick some baka's butt. I grinned. This was my time to shine at last.

"Hey! Alien freak!" I yelled, and the two stopped their fighting long enough to stare at me. That was long enough, because the next thing Tei saw was my fist in his face.

I knocked him back, but he sprung up and lunged at me before his back hit the dirt. I ducked and swung my leg around to kick him in the gut. It knocked him off balance, but not by much, and next second he teleported behind me and brought his hands smashing into my back. I toppled forward, but managed to twist myself around to aim a flailing kick at him. I missed, but the distraction gave me enough time to regain my balanced and I tackled him with a force known only to glomp-happy fangirl otakus. He landed hard on his back, and I sat on his chest to pin him down, smirking and holding his wrists pinned to the ground. The fight hadn't lasted as nearly as long as I wanted it to, but it was good to finally beat up the bad guys with my fists for a change. I chanced a quick glance at Kish to see what he thought, and found him looking at me with an approving, almost admiring smile.

Tei growled at me, and looked about ready to throw me off when the twins Fi and Re landed down beside him. "This fight's gotten boring..." The left-bracelet one said.

"Fi's right" The right-bracelet one agreed. I guess that would make her Re. "Can we go home now?"

Tei sighed, letting his anger deflate. He was beat and he knew it. "Alright, alright" he groaned, and the twins beamed in delight at getting their way. "Mission aborted, let's go home"

And with that, the three were gone in a ripple of air.

I grumbled to myself as I stood up. Tei had made such a great punching bag, I was sorry to see him go. I glanced around to find the other Mew Mews and aliens smokey and bruised, but ok. Pai and Zakuro were even talking to each other with something that looked like actual friendliness. Amazing.

"That was awesome Kinomi-oneechan na no da!" Pudding laughed, jumped up and hugging me. "Your so cool!"

"Y-Yes" Lettuce agreed. She and the other Mew Mews were now drifting over here, clustering around us. "You're such a good fighter Mew Kinomi"

"Thanks!" I replied cheerfully, ruffling Pudding's hair. "You were really great with the water, Lettuce. Perfect timing."

Soon everyone was congratulating everyone else and we had worked ourselves into a highly detailed play-by-play of the entire fight by the time Ichigo finally piped up "Everyone, we should change back before the reporters show up again!" Everyone nodded, and in seven bright flashes of color, the Mew Mews and Ichirou were back to their normal selves again.

"We should get back to the Cafe" Zakuro commanded before anyone had a chance to say anything else. "Ryou should know that the aliens are back to using human souls in their Chimera Animas."

"Yah, and what about those new guys na no da?" Pudding chimed in.

Mint, Ichirou, and Lettuce all nodded in agreement to this plan, but Ichigo, glancing at her watch, shrieked "No way! I can't! I'm supposed to meet Masaya nyaaa!!!!"

Mint rolled her eyes. "Then go on, we'll go without--" The words were hardly out of her mouth when Ichigo turned and started running off down the street, shouting a hurried "THANKSGUYSIOWEYOUFORTHIS!!!!!" over her shoulder at us. Mint rolled her eyes again, but Ichirou and I laughed.

"Ok, enough random happenings for one day." Ichirou said when we'd stopped laughing. "Let's get back to the cafe, tell Ryou what just happened, and have some victory ice cream or something"

It didn't take any more encouragement than the words 'ice cream' to get us moving. Pudding took off immediately, laughing and cheering about ice cream as she ran. Ichigo and Lettuce followed her at a slower pace, with Zakuro at their heels. Ichirou wrapped one arm around Mint's shoulders and the two followed Zakuro, and I brought up the rear for a change. Truth be told, something was making me hang back. Someone, actually. A green-haired, pointy-eared, distracted-looking someone whom I was staring back at over my shoulder.....

Kish, Pai, and Tart were locked in an intense, but whispered conversation. At least, Pai and Tart were. Kish's mind didn't seem to be completely focused on the discussion at hand, and his eyes kept wandering off in the direction Ichigo had run.

"Hey, Kinomi! Come on!" Mint yelled suddenly, breaking my thoughts. I was so distracted I hadn't realized my feet weren't moving anymore. I glanced over at Mint to see her standing there with her arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently as she waited for me to catch up. Ichirou was waiting for her a few feet ahead, and the rest of the group was nearly out of sight.

"No, go on without me" I called to her, looking back at the trio of aliens. Pai and Tart seemed to have successfully drug Kish back into the conversation, though now it looked more like an argument then anything else. Kish had his arms crossed defensively, trying to avoid whatever they were asking him. Tart wore a half-exasperated, half-amused expression, and Pai just looked annoyed.

"Whatever...." I heard Mint sigh behind me, but I wasn't really paying all that much attention to her. My eyes were still on the guys. As I watched, I saw Pai shake his head in defeat, apearently giving into whatever Kish was saying, and teleport away. Tart chuckled and rolled his eyes, probably denouncing Kish as an incurable nutcase the same way Ichirou had done to me so many times when we were young, and he too teleported off to who-knows-where. Kish remained where he was, arms still crossed, eyes still lingering on where they had been. He sighed deeply and looked back up into the distance, still staring in the direction Ichigo had run off.

It was just me and him now. Just the two of us.

I took a deep breath and stepped quietly towards him. My heart fluttered strangely against my ribcage, like a bird struggling to get free. I tried to force myself to calm down. All I would do was talk to him. Just say hi, learn a little more about him, maybe find out what he liked so much about Ichigo. Just talk to him a little. Just talk. Nothing more. I kept repeating this to mysef as I drew nearer. In my mind I could hear Yuri laughing at me, muttering that I was stupid for getting so worked up over 'just talk', but I couldn't help it. It's not like I can control when I blush.

I was within about four feet of him when I stopped. He was hovering a few feet above the groud, still staring off after Ichigo. All this time he hadn't even acknowlaged I was there. I took a deep breath and said in a voice barely loud enough for him to hear, "Hey, Kish...."

Kish made no response. He didn't even look up. I'm not even sure he knew I was here.

"Kish...." I tried again, a bit louder this time. This time I knew he had to have heard me, but chose to ignore me. Of course. His mind was too preoccupied by his dear beloved kitten to think about anything else. He stood there for a few more seconds, then he sighed and closed his eyes momentarily. I hoped maybe he would look up and notice me, but instead he just turned away and started flying off. This was my last chance.

Before he had gotten three feet away from me I took a deep breathed and yelled, "KISSHU!"

"What?!" Kished stopped in his flight to turn and glare at me, his hands balled up into fists at his sides. "What!? What is it you want?!?!"

"I...I, um...." I tried to say something, anything, but my mind had gone totally blank. It was like I had been jammed under the spotlight without the faintest clue what the lines were or what the play even was.

"Well, come on, spit it out!" Kish demanded harshly, but my tounge was still tied. As much as I had told myself I was just going to make some friendly conversation, that seemed kind of an idiotic thing to try for when he looked so angry like this. And even if he wasn't ticked right now, I wouldn't know what to say anyway.

"I, um, well, h-hi.... uh, I, um....." Jeez, I couldn't even get out a simple 'hello'. Kish gave a heavy sigh of impatience and rolled his eyes. He turned away, preparing to take off again...

_"KISH I LOVE YOU!!!!!"_

..........................

............Who said that?

Who had just said that?

I repeat, WHO THE HECK HAD SAID THAT?!?!?!

Oh smoof, _I_ said that....

Kish froze. He turned his head slowly to stare at me. His face looked just as frozen as the rest of him, covered in shock and confusion. ".....what?"

My eyes flicked to the ground, away from his questioning, surpised face. I could see it there in his surprise. My song hadn't gotten though to him at all. Nothing I did had. His mind was so full of Ichigo he didn't even notice the fact I was falling for him.

What had I gotten myself into? More importantly, what the heck had posessed me to blurt that out!??!

"I.... well.... I....." My mind raced for something, anythng to dig my way out of this situation. Nothing came up. I could feel my cheeks burning under his intense golden gaze. I was really screwed this time....

And then suddenly my mouth was working on it's own, the words tumbling out in jumbled heaps. "I-It's true, Kish! I really love you! Ever since I've met you! I.... you...." I shook my head, squeezing my eyes closed. My fists clenched at my sides, as if they too were trying to fight back the sting of tears. Confessing was more even painful then I thought it would be, spilling my heart out to someone who I knew wouldn't accept it. "I... know you love Ichigo.... but I couldn't stop it.... I couldn't stop loving you.... and..... and it hurts so much, and..... I just needed you to know.... but you.... you'll never....."

"Kinomi...." Kish whispered, very softly. His voice sounded like so many emotions all at once, awe and shock and reluctance and disbelief all twisting together into one single word.

That one word pushed me over the edge. I couldn't take it any more. I turned and ran. I didn't even know where I was running, but at the moment I didn't really care. All I wanted was to get away from here.

"Wait, stop!" Kish yelled after me, but that only made me speed up even more. I needed to get away from him, both in body and mind. I would run forever if that's what it took. Away from Kish, away from this pain.

Away from love itself, if that's what it took.

It was time for me to accept Kish would never love me. I had known it all along, but it the impact of what that meant truely sunk in now.

My heart, clinging together by stitches and false hopes for so long, was finally broken.

* * *

_I'm tuggin' at my hair  
I'm pullin' at my clothes  
I'm tryin to keep my cool  
I know it shows_

_I'm staring at my feet  
My cheeks are turning red  
I'm searching for the words inside my head_

_Cause I'm feeling nervous  
Tryin' to be so perfect  
Cause I know you're worth it  
You're worth it, yeah_

_If I could say what I want to say  
I'd say I want to blow you, away  
Be with you every night  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
If I could say what I want to see  
I want to see you go down, on one knee  
Marry me today  
Guess I'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

_It don't do me any good it's just a waste of time  
What use is it to you what's on my mind  
If it ain't comin out we're not going anywhere  
So why can't I just tell you that I care_

_Cause I'm feeling nervous  
Tryin' to be so perfect  
Cause I know you're worth it, you're worth it yeah_

_If I could say what I want to say  
I'd say I want to blow you, away  
Be with you every night  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
If I could say what I want to see  
I want to see you go down, on one knee  
Marry me today  
Guess I'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

_What's wrong with my tongue  
These words keep slipping away  
I stutter I stumble like I've got nothing to say_

_Cause I'm feeling nervous  
Trying to be so perfect  
Cause I know you're worth it  
You're worth it yeah_

_I guess i'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

_If I could say what I want to say  
I'd say I want to blow you--away  
Be with you every night  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
If I could say what I want to see  
I want to see you go down, on one knee  
Marry me today  
Guess I'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

_These things I'll never say_

* * *

**Um..... I really have nothing to say for once. Please R&R, and hopefully the next chapter will be up much quicker this time. The ending song I used was Things I'll Never Say by Avril Lavigne, and.... um....**

**That's about it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and have a nice day!**


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